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Austerity and politically motivated changes – wage bargaining in Hungarian municipal services

Author

Listed:
  • László Neumann

    (Centre for European Employment Studies Ltd., Budapest)

  • Erzsébet Berki

    (Centre for European Employment Studies Ltd., Budapest)

  • Márk Edelényi

    (Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales (IAEN), Quito, Ecuador)

Abstract

Salaries of public sector employees have been the number one target of austerity measures applied by successive Hungarian governments since 2006, and trade unions have found it difficult to influence government policies. Until 2008 the outcomes of centralized quasi-bargaining somewhat mitigated the harsh measures, but later governments, especially the right-wing one in place since 2010, abandoned such negotiations, implementing labour law reforms that weakened trade union bargaining power and concluding selective agreements solely with representatives of certain strong groups of employees. Social dialogue institutions have become especially weak at sectoral and municipal levels. Though decentralized collective bargaining is common in larger private sector companies, and though the legal regulation is similar in state-/municipality-owned companies, genuine collective bargaining within the latter is very rare. The article presents two case studies (on geriatric care and public transport) highlighting current developments and their impacts on employment relations.

Suggested Citation

  • László Neumann & Erzsébet Berki & Márk Edelényi, 2014. "Austerity and politically motivated changes – wage bargaining in Hungarian municipal services," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 20(3), pages 431-444, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:20:y:2014:i:3:p:431-444
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258914538352
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Leisink & Stephen Bach, 2014. "Economic crisis and municipal public service employment: comparing developments in seven EU Member States," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 20(3), pages 327-342, August.

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