Opposition parties reject planned legislation on teachers’ employment status

The representatives of the Socialists, Jobbik-Conservatives, Democratic Coalition, Parbeszed, LMP and Momentum held a joint press conference after a meeting called by the interior ministry on a draft law with the opposition and representatives of trade unions and student organisations.

Agnes Kunhalmi of the Socialists, the head of parliament’s cultural committee, said they found it unacceptable that the government had made wage hikes conditional on European Union funds. Funding the hikes is the government’s responsibility, and should be provided from the budget, he said.

Parbeszed’s Timea Szabo called on the government to scrap the legislation and implement immediate wage hikes. “Revenge legislation can’t be the basis of improving public education,” she said.

Balazs Barkoczi of the Democratic Coalition warned the legislation would lead to the “utter dismantling of public education.”

Momentum’s Ferenc Gelencser said Interior Minister Sandor Pinter had “refused to promise that students demonstrating for their future will not be teargased in the future… and showed no sign of considering to withdraw the legislation.”

The representative of the student organisations Adom and United Students’ Front said students wanted “a solution, not disorderliness” and suggested that President Katalin Novak should refuse to sign the law.”

In a statement published after the meeting, the opposition said the legislation went “generally against the interests of Hungarians and the government’s agreement with the European Union”.

Governmentt official: Leftists continue to block teachers’ wage hikes

Hungarian leftist parties continue to work against Hungary accessing the European Union funds that would allow teachers’ wage hikes, state secretary Bence Retvari said after a meeting between government officials and opposition lawmakers, representatives of trade unions and student organisations on a draft legislation on teachers’ status. Should the EU funds be at hand, teachers’ wages could be raised to 561,000 forints (EUR 1,500) on average per month, he added.

The government is ready to bring about the largest wage hike of the past 30 years, of 75 percent, he said. “Unfortunately, we have had no guarantees from leftist politicians that they would stop working against teachers,” he said.

Wednesday’s meeting was the 19th stage of a long series of consultations, Retvari said. Government officials answered all the questions of the opposition, he added.

At the same time, the opposition parties have failed to submit their own texts regarding the legislation; only the Mi Hazank (Our Homeland) party prepared one, he said. “The others clearly came just to walk out,” he said.