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Chaos as Hungarian lawmakers pass ‘slave law’ on overtime

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Budapest: Rare scenes of chaos gripped the Hungarian parliament on Wednesday as it passed changes to the labour code proposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party that critics call a “slave law.”


Orban attended the session during which opposition lawmakers blew whistles and blocked access to the speaker’s podium in an effort to prevent votes from taking place.


Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party won a third consecutive two-thirds majority in the parliament at an election last April and habitually steamrollers bills through the assembly.


But Speaker Laszlo Kover, a loyal Orban ally, had to open Wednesday’s session from the floor rather than the podium with opposition MPs accusing Fidesz counterparts of breaking rules and “unlawful” voting.


Tabled by Fidesz lawmakers, the controversial bill hikes the maximum annual overtime hours that employers can demand from 250 to 400 hours.


It also triples the time period for calculating overtime payments to three years.


The government argues the changes will benefit both those wanting to work more hours and employers who need more manpower.


“We have to remove bureaucratic rules so that those who want to work and earn more can do so,” Orban said on Tuesday. But trade unions and opposition parties have demanded the scrapping of what they call the “slave law”. A workers’ rally in Budapest on Saturday that drew several thousand demonstrators heard calls for wages — among the lowest in the EU — to be increased, rather than overtime hours.


Unions have accused the government of a lack of consultation over the measures and threatened a general strike and road blockades nationwide.


Critics of the bill suspect that German automotive giants, a key part of the Hungarian economy, have asked Budapest to make the changes as a response to increasing labour shortages. “They are passing a law dictated by German lobbyists against the interests of Hungarian people,” said opposition lawmaker Bence Tordai. Polls have indicated that over two-thirds of Hungarians oppose the measures.


Also among the bills adopted Wednesday was the setting-up of new “Administrative Courts” to oversee public administration cases. — AFP



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