Economics
VW Strike Over Wage Gap Highlights Salary Strain in East Europe
- Hungarian labor union demands 18% wage hike for 2019
- Labor shortage has become major political and economic issue
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Audi workers in Hungary began a week-long strike Thursday to protest what they consider an unfair wage gap with colleagues working for Volkswagen AG’s other factories in eastern Europe. Their Czech colleagues also threatened to take action over pay.
The strike shut down engine and car production in the western Hungarian city of Gyor, the location of one of the flagship European factories of Volkswagen’s premium brand, according to Audi Hungary labor union Vice President Gyorgy Csalogany. Workers are demanding an 18 percent wage hike for this year while Audi is offering 10 percent in 2019 and the same for 2020, Audi spokeswoman Judit Mithay-Marko said.