Postal Workers Pay Protest in Budapest
- 6 Mar 2023 11:51 AM
- Hungary Around the Clock
Hundreds of people demonstrated on Batthyány tér and Fő utca in Budapest on Saturday, demanding a pay increase for postal workers.
The Postal Workers Independent Interest Protection Federation and the letter carriers’ union have been excluded from ongoing wage talks with Magyar Posta because they refused to sign a three-year wage agreement on a 15% raise in 2021.
President Ferenc Tusz of the letter carriers’ union said they had asked to be included in the wage talks, but the other two unions that signed the agreement did not approve of that.
The wage agreement for 2023 envisaged a 2% wage raise and the unions taking part in the wage talks were able to achieve a 3% wage hike after a lengthy tug of war.
Tusz said they would like to achieve a wage hike to follow the rate of inflation, as nearly half of the 25,000 Magyar Posta employees must make ends meet on only the guaranteed minimum wage.
The protesters would like to have a comprehensive picture of strategic plans affecting Magyar Posta.
Magyar Posta announced last week that it would be dismissing 1,200 employees, citing the “long-term energy crisis related to sanctions afflicting Europe”.
MTI Photo
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