INFO: Please find below a summary on the collective agreement signed in Hungary (from our correspondent Adrienn Balint)
We managed to agree about the main issues of 2005’s income-politics in the National Conciliation Committee (OÉT). The agreement was settled in the 12th of November, after 6 bargaining rounds.
3 issues belong to the competence of the OÉT: • Several questions of tax-system • Defining of the national minimum-wage’s amount • Making commendation for the measure of the next year’s wage-increasing
a) Taxes
Changing of the tax-free allowances’s regulation (2005) • The messing allowance’s tax-free monthly amount increases:
- from 6000 HUF ( 24 €) to 8000 HUF ( 32 €) in case of meal supports
- from 3500 HUF ( 14 €) to 4000 HUF ( 16 €) in case of food supports
• Employers can give donation to the employees three times in a year (not financial but in objective form, it’s called „tinhorn-donation”), this value is tax-free till the 10 % of the national monthly minimum wage (5000 HUF /20 €/ in 2004.)
• The school-beginning support’s amount increases to 17000 HUF (68 €) from 15000 HUF (60 €) (It could be given to parents who’s child attends to primary or secondary school, once in a year, both parents can claim it)
These allowances are not compulsary, these depend on the employers and employees’ agreements.
b) Wages
Commendation for the 2005’ wage-increasing’s measure
The next conditions were taken to consideration: • Increasing of GDP: + 4% • The employment’s extension: +0,5 - 1 % • The net wage increasing which will be caused by the income tax decreasing is 2 %. • The consumer price-level increasing:+4%
In behalf of the 3-4 % wage-increasing the partners agreed in: • Recommending 6% average increasing as the base of collective bargaining • The compulsory minimum wage (which is regulated in goverment directive) is 57000 HUF ( 230 €) from the 1th of January 2005. (2004: 53000 HUF /214 €/)
The OÉT must evaluate the commendation’s achievement and the changing of the forecasted macroeconomical indexes until 15/9/05.