They went on strike at the Mercedes factory in Kecskemét

Kitti Kovács-Besenyi, the deputy president of the strike committee, told MTI after the work stoppage: the Iron Workers' Union MBMH Vasas Alapszervezte of the Vasas Szakszervezeti Szövetség at Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft. met fourteen times with the representatives of the employers since October, but it was not possible to agree on this year's wages.

He cannot comment on the company management's offer, but he revealed that the basic salary development plan for the smaller wage categories does not reach HUF 20.000. According to the deputy president, the patience of the employees has run out, which is why the strike committee was formed on February 26, with the demands of which the majority of the employees agree.

These include a 14 percent basic salary increase for 2024 and 12 percent for 2025. In addition, they are asking for 600.000 forints cafeteria payments in both years, an increase of the vacation allowance to 500.000 forints, a travel allowance of 40 forints per kilometer and 8 days of leave that the employees can have, he added.

The strike is considered a success

Kitti Kovács-Besenyi said: their basic organization has nearly 1300 members, and with a smaller number of about 100 people, they stopped or slowed production in three areas on Wednesday afternoon at the factory. The deputy president emphasized: „the point was to hold the warning strike, and not to cause damage, their goal was to cause a loss of production".

The workers of the three organizational units participating in the strike gathered in one place for the duration of the work stoppage, discussed their demands, then returned to their plant after the two hours and continued their work.

The deputy president also reported that the two-hour strike was considered a success, but it did not take place without incidents, these will be investigated. After taking the initiative, they are still waiting for the employer's new offer and proposal for the date of the next negotiation.

Is the situation not ripe for a raise?

As he said: the company currently claims that, in addition to the factory expansion, such a high wage increase is not justified in the current economic situation.

After the formation of the strike committee, the management of the company announced that, based on the results of the completed year 2023, it decided to provide a profit share payment of HUF 1.090.000 gross to the active workers of the Mercedes-Benz factory in Kecskemét. This one-time amount is paid together with the March salary at the beginning of April.

According to Kitti Kovács-Besenyi, the profit-sharing payment was a well-timed announcement on the part of the company management, but this is due to the fact that in 2022, during the wage agreements, this was also included among the demands of the MBMH Vasas Foundation, so this is the result of several years of work by the union.

He emphasized: Hungary is the only site outside of Germany within the concern where this has been introduced, and it is now automatically available to employees every year if they receive it in Germany as well.

„If the company management does not have a new offer, then they will try to break the deadlocked negotiations by announcing a larger strike affecting the entire area of the factory," said Kitti Kovács-Besenyi.

Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft. promised information on the subject at a later date.