Railway strike in Hungary continues

Railway workers went on an indefinite strike at 3 a.m. Monday morning after weekend talks with MÁV management failed to produce an agreement.

The VDSZSZ union is seeking a 6.9% salary raise for this year, and a one-off payment of Ft 250,000 per employee from the revenues from the privatisation of MÁV Cargo last year. In addition, the union wants a 10% wage hike at recently created MÁV subsidiaries MÁV-Start, MÁV Trakció and MÁV-Gépészet.

Four other rail unions agreed to a 6.9% wage hike at the end of December. MÁV Cargo was sold for €400 million late last year to a consortium of Gysev and Rail Cargo Austria, a subsidiary of Austrian state railway ÖBB.

VDSZSZ staged a nine-hour strike on Friday from 3 a.m. until noon. Union president István Gaskó told reporters that 75% of its members joined the strike. MÁV said only 14% of the traffic control staff and 9% of the day shift stayed away, but admitted that rail transport was unpredictable.

VDSZSZ represents ticket inspectors, traffic controllers and technical inspectors.

MÁV CEO István Heinczinger described the union's demands as illegal and impossible to meet. Gaskó said the management of the state railway company had brought about the present situation, and that responsibility rests with them.

The union and the management also failed to reach agreement on skeleton services. VDSZSZ will resume talks with MÁV at 11 a.m. today and with MÁV Start at 4 p.m.

Budapest public transport company BKV and inter-city bus company Volánbusz have agreed to transport those with MÁV passes free of charge during the strike.

Friday's strike cost MÁV Ft 147 million in lost revenue.

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