Orban Risks First General Strike Since Fall of the Iron Curtain
- Unions pledge nationwide demonstration, possibe strike
- Orban, leading in polls, has vowed to ride out protests
This article is for subscribers only.
Bolstered by a wave of nationwide protests, Hungary’s labor unions are mulling whether to hold their first general strike since the 1989 fall of the Iron Curtain.
Industrial workers were among the more than 10,000 people braved freezing weather in Budapest over the weekend to demand Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government repeal a new law allowing companies to ask them to work as much as six days a week. Branding the legislation "the slave law," their unions vowed to rally Jan. 19 and are consulting members about a walkout.