Union at Audi plant in Hungary to hold week-long strike

BUDAPEST, Hungary – A union of autoworkers at a plant in Hungary of German carmaker Audi says it will launch a week-long strike after unsuccessful negotiations over wages and benefits with the company.

The strike to begin Thursday morning follows a two-hour warning strike last week by around 30 per cent of the workforce of 13,000 at the plant in Gyor, western Hungary.

Union demands include a monthly base pay hike of 18 per cent, or at least 75,000 ($268), and at least one free weekend a month. The union said wages at other regional plants of the Volkswagen Group — which includes Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Skoda and others — were 25-39 per cent higher in 2017.

Foreign carmakers have been among the main drivers of Hungary’s economic growth in recent years.