Strike at DUNAFERR the biggest Hungarian steel industrial company

The DUNAFERR is the biggest basic metal company in Hungary. 8000 workers are employed, it maintains a complete city (Dunaújváros), which was built in the beginnings of the 1950 ’s around the new factory. The employees’ 50 % are the member of Vasas, and 1000 persons are the member of the DUNAFERR Youth Federation, but there are many person who has double membership (both of Vasas and the Youth Union), so the unionization rate is very high. The company had been state-owned till the last year, sometimes it’s called the „last socialist company” in Hungary, but it was privatised by the swiss-ukrainian DONBASS-DUFARCO, with favourable conditions in 2005. The situation of the workers is true to type for the other steel industrial companies, which are very-very disadvanced situation since the sturctural changes. We consider this company’s employees situation as a pattern, which is a target for our member. But unfortunately the new ukrainian leadership has different methods in social dialogue like we got used to, and they were absolutely held aloof from the union’s collective bargaining-initations. Consequently, the 2 unions spent a two-hours-long warning strike in the 8th of February, but unfortunately, it was pointless.

The next turn of the negotiations’ll be on Wednesday. They claim: +6 % wage increasing, and ensure the benefit-in-kinds’ measure, based on the OÉT agreement.