Railway strike continues on Tuesday morning

Hungarian railway workers continued their rolling strike on the third consecutive day on Tuesday morning, disrupting train services around the country.

State Railways MAV said that several trains, including all international trains, have been cancelled, while others are running on shorter routes or with delays later today.

Budapest's Southern railway station is practically at standstill while the Western and Eastern railway stations are operating.

MAV expressed the hope that some lines would be resumed after the morning change of shifts. Traffic, however, is expected to remain unpredictable all over the country.

Over the past year the railway workers' union VDSZSZ has staged a series of strikes, demanding that MAV employees receive 250,000 forints each, or a combined 8 billion forints, from the 102.5 billion forints in revenues generated from the sale of MAV Cargo, and a retroactive 10 percent outsourcing compensation.

Interviewed by public television on Tuesday morning, Finance Minister Janos Veres rebuffed the union's demands as unfounded.

"The government is not in a position to fulfill unfounded demands," he said.

The minister said that only MAV Cargo workers would be eligible for 250,000 forints from revenues generated from the company's sale. "If the union's demand were met, all the 10 million citizens of Hungary should receive 250,000 forints," he said.

Veres called the demand for a 10 percent pay rise unrealistic, noting that the National Interest Coordination Council last week recommended wage rises of 3 to 5 percent for next year.

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