Rail Strike Suspended For One Week

Rail traffic is expected to return to normal this morning.

Union leader István Gaskó said MÁV had been endangering transport safety by running trains without compulsory examination and without appropriate staff, in violation of regulations. The union’s members include MÁV safety inspectors. In addition, he said, the union wanted to give MÁV time to reconsider its “no compromise” attitude. He threatened to report the matter to labour safety authorities.

Gaskó said the union has not given up its demands that all employees of MÁV, MÁV-Start and MÁV Gépészet receive a one-off payment of Ft 250,000 from the revenue from the sale of MÁV Cargo, and that MÁV Start employees receive a 10% pay increase retroactive to July 1, 2007.

CEO István Heinczinger said MÁV management deems the demands legally and financially groundless and unrealistic. The three other rail unions dissociated themselves from VDSZSZ with a similar argument, Népszabadság writes.

The other unions accepted a 6.9% pay rise from the beginning of the year. VDSZSZ is the largest MÁV union, representing about 25% of employees, most of them ticket inspectors and safety inspectors.

MÁV claimed that approximately 40% of trains ran yesterday, and that only 4% of workers remained on strike.

Heinczinger said Gaskó should first check the official logs before making accusations, Népszabadság reports. He said the four-day strike has cost MÁV roughly Ft 2 billion. However, with fewer passenger trains running, the company was able to generate more revenue than usual from track usage fees charged to freight trains."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock.

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