Hungarian workers cannot be expelled from Continental’s factory in Hungary, says Minister Nagy

Economic Development Minister Márton Nagy held talks with the executives of car parts supplier Continental in his office on Monday, and he made it clear that Hungarian jobs belonged to Hungarians, his ministry said.

Nagy and Continental Automotive Hungary CEO Róbert Keszte and the company’s other leaders reviewed strategic trends in the economy, and specifically the car industry, touching on recent press reports concerning Continental, the economic development ministry said in a statement.

The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting families and jobs, saying businesses first had to offer job openings to Hungarians before employing other nationals.

Keszte said that contrary to the media reports, Continental’s plant in Makó had yet to carry out any collective layoffs. He added, however, that the layoffs concerned the termination of temporary and fixed-term employment contracts as well as employees who are reaching retirement age.

He said Continental provided more severance pay to its employees than what is required by law. He said the company was committed to observing the legal regulations and supported the amendments tightening the law on the employment of guest workers.

Continental employs close to 8,000 people in Hungary.

As we wrote before, while many perceive Hungary as being anti-foreign, the statistics do not support this notion. It is estimated that there are already 500,000 guest workers employed in Hungary, details HERE.

Also, as we reported earlier, the minimum wage agreement was signed in Hungary, details are HERE.