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)

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.