Three trade unions staged a demonstration in front of the central bank in Budapest on Tuesday demanding the restoration of preferential tax rates on cafeteria employee benefits.
Head of the electricity union József Szilágyi said their demands are meant to support families, promote mobility and handle shortage of labour. The unions organising the event said they were in agreement that changes to the cafeteria system and the cancellation of tax allowances on certain elements of the system have brought about a decline in the workers’ net income, he added.
The central bank has confirmed in its opinion about next year’s budget that more than 2 million workers may lose some of their net income due to tax law changes whereas the central budget will not gain significantly more revenues.
Image via Zsolt Szigetváry/ MTI
The demonstrators tried to present a petition to central bank governor György Matolcsy asking him to “use his own means to help the trade union federations’ efforts concerning employee benefits” but no one was available to take it over. Finally, the document was posted on the wall of the building. The demonstrators then moved to the square in front of parliament.