14 March, 2011
The formation of a strike committee by ICEM-affiliated Federation of Chemical, Energy, and General Workers’ Unions (VDSZ) at Hankook Tyre Magyarország Kft. in Hungary prompted the Korean-based company to increase wage rates by an average of 8%.
That happened last week, after the VDSZ Tyre Manufacturing Workers’ Union threatened strike action ten days earlier on 3 March. They did so because management had failed to raise salaries to compensate for Hungarian tax changes that went into effect 1 January.
Some 1,700 workers at the 1,800 workforce will receive an average 8% pay hike retroactive to 1 January. In addition, workers will receive HUF 20,000 (€73.40) yearly in non-wage benefits. Hungary’s National Interest Conciliation Council was recommending 4-6% increases to offset the tax change.
VDSZ President Tamás Székely
The average 8% wage increase surprised many due to the negative labour climate made by Hankook since opening the Rácalmás factory near Dunaujváros in 2007. Only last year, Hankook Tyre Magyarország was fined by the Hungarian Labour Inspectorate for obstructing VDSZ’s legitimate duties of representation inside the plant. And shortly after production began in 2007, Hankook was charged or found guilty of non-payment of overtime remuneration, forcing a six-day work-week, making work mandatory on public holidays, and interrogating workers over their lawful union activities.
Hankook, 10% owned by French Michelin, is the world’s seventh largest tyre producer, capable of making 87 million tyres a year from five plants – the Guemsan and Daejeon factories in Korea, the Jiaxing and Jiangsu plants in China, and Rácalmás in Hungary. It is expected to jump to the world’s fifth biggest producer after factory start-ups in Liang Jiang, Chongqing province, China, and the Bekasi, Java, Indonesia, over the next few years.