PM Orban Also Signs Three-Year Wage Deal

The new wage agreement is looking good, but there is still work to be done, as negotiations this year have been particularly difficult due to the current macroeconomic environment and the ongoing war in Hungary's neighborhood.

The three-year wage agreement has been signed at the Carmelite monastery (Photo: Zoltan Fischer)

The secretary general of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers  (VOSZ) called the three-year wage agreement extremely ambitious. Speaking at the signing ceremony held in the Carmelite monastery, Laszlo Perlusz said that after last year's terrible inflation, very modest growth is expected this year, and after two such difficult years, they were able to agree on increasing the guaranteed minimum wage by 7 percent and the minimum wage by 9 percent next year. For the latter, they agreed on a 13 percent increase in 2026 and a 14 percent increase in 2027.

The three-year wage agreement has been signed at the Carmelite monastery  (Photo: Zoltan Fischer)

The wage agreement implies tasks not only for businesses, but also for workers and the government, he stressed. Employers need to be more competitive and productive and bring in state-of-the-art technologies, apply artificial intelligence and move towards digitalization and robotization. He pointed out that the government also has a lot to do:

besides contributing financially to wage increases, it is also necessary to launch programs such as the Demjan Sandor program for Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises, and it is important to continue the Szechenyi Card program (state supported benefits/incentives for employees).

In addition to all this, large companies must not be forgotten, and an innovative and inclusive economic environment must be created to ensure that these nice figures can be achieved, said Laszlo Perlusz.

Melinda Meszaros, president of the LIGA Trade Union Confederation, said if

• the macroeconomic environment,
• the GDP
• or average wage rates 

change, this agreement will be renegotiated and the necessary adjustments will be made.

She added that this year the negotiations have been particularly difficult due to the current macroeconomic environment and the ongoing war in Hungary's neighborhood, which has a serious impact both on the state of the economy and on the living conditions and livelihoods of employees. It was under these circumstances that employers' and employees' organizations had to negotiate and agree on a multi-year wage agreement.

Melinda Meszaros sees the current deal as a continuation of the wage agreement concluded in 2016 for 2+4 years. She believes the new deal will improve the current position of the economy, help to enhance competitiveness in the EU and Hungary, and improve the situation and livelihoods of employees and families.

The wage agreement ensures a decent income

The union leader praised Hungary and the organizations that take part in the Permanent Consultation Forum of the Competition Sector and the Government, because Hungary is one of the six EU countries that have transposed the minimum wage directive by the deadline. The current agreement also sets indicators: by January 1, 2027, the minimum wage must reach 50 percent of the average gross earnings expected for that year to ensure a decent living for employees with the lowest income.

In order to achieve dynamic economic growth and reach economic goals, it is necessary to improve the wage situation of employees, primarily those with the lowest incomes, in the coming period, and the wage agreement concluded now will provide a very good basis for this, Melinda Meszaros underlined.

The three-year wage agreement was signed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Laszlo Perlusz, secretary-general of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ), Ferenc Rolek, vice-president of the Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists (MGYOSZ), Zoltan Zs Szoke, president of the Hungarian National Federation of Consumer Co-operative Societies and Trade Associations (AFEOSZ-Coop), Melinda Meszaros, president of the LIGA Trade Union Confederation, Imre Palkovics, president of the National Federation of Workers’ Councils (MOSZ), and Robert Zlati, president of the Hungarian Trade Union Confederation.