The VKF, a forum of employers, unions and the government, moved close to a compromise on a minimum wage rise at a meeting on Wednesday after a weeks-long deadlock.
Representatives of employers and unions told MTI after the meeting that the Innovation and Technology Ministry would prepare a draft agreement raising the minimum wage by 4% from February 1. If all three employers’ associations and all three unions associations approve the agreement, it could be signed on Monday, they added.
Ferenc Rolek, the deputy head of business association MGYOSZ, said employers had suggested the 4% minimum wage rise as a compromise, between their original offer of a 3% increase and unions’ demand for a 5% rise. He expressed hope the sides would accept the draft agreement, but acknowledged that the compromise wouldn’t deliver either side satisfaction.
Melinda Mészáros, who chairs unions association Liga, said the sides would get the ministry’s draft agreement on Thursday or Friday to discuss. The agreement would raise the gross monthly minimum wage to 167,400 forints (EUR 466) for unskilled workers and to 219,000 forints for skilled labourers, she added. She said the draft agreement contains a clause stipulating that any reduction in the payroll tax during the year must be matched by a one-percentage-point increase in the minimum wage.
hungarymatters.hu
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