Railway workers' union VDSZSZ extended a strike it launched in eastern Hungary to all lines after 1700 GMT on Sunday to demand higher wages and a one-off bonus from the sale of state railway firm MAV's freight unit.

The strike, which initially caused only minor disruptions on national rail services, brought almost all trains to a halt by Monday morning, MAV said.

"Domestic express and intercity rail traffic has practically ceased, and international trains are not leaving for Hungary," MAV communications director Imre Kavalecz said in a statement.

"One or two trains departed in the morning hours but there are lines and stations where there is no rail traffic." He said MAV expected unpredictable service on all lines, adding that a change of shifts at 0900 GMT could slightly improve traffic depending on the number of workers deciding not to join the strike.

Separately, a strike by two unions at Budapest Airport, a unit of Germany's Hochtief, entered its sixth day on Monday, causing minor delays in the morning, the airport operator said.

Two unions at Budapest Airport, a unit of Germany's Hochtief, started an indefinite strike last Wednesday over demands for improved labour conditions, a new collective agreement and a halt to layoffs.

"The morning peak has passed, there were delays of about 30-40 minutes, but there were no cancellations," Budapest Airport spokesman Domokos Szollar said.

"Waiting time has since dropped to about 15 minutes, so now (the airport) operates as it there were no strike at all," he said, adding that for the time being there were no new cancellations announced for Monday.

On Sunday, Hungarian airline Malev said it had scrapped 12 of its flights scheduled for Monday.

Talks between striking unions and the airport operator are expected to resume at 1000 GMT.

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Hungarian railway strike becomes nationwide

Xinhua: 2008-12-15

BUDAPEST -- Hungarian railway workers' trade union extended a strike to affect the whole country from 6 p.m. local time on Sunday, Hungarian News Agency MTI reported.

The trade union started an open-ended strike from zero hour local time Sunday, but the strike only affected areas east of the River Danube during the day.

Hungarian State Railways (MAV) spokesman Imre Kavalecz said only about half of 104 international services had operated on Sunday.

The union is demanding a payment of 250,000 forints (about 1,330 U.S. dollars) for every worker from privatization revenues of Cargo, a unit of MAV and a 10 percent pay rise, paid retroactively, for all those who are working for MAV's subsidiary companies.

"The demands are impossible to fulfill," MAV Chief Executive Istvan Heinczinger told a press conference on Sunday afternoon. He said that demands for payment from Cargo privatization revenues to employees of another company were illegal.

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Nationwide railway strike leaves train service at standstill

MTI: 2008-12-15

Train services came to a standstill nationwide on Monday as union railways extended a strike which started the previous midnight.

No trains were running in the country except for a few trains in the western part of the country, head of the trade union Istvan Gasko told MTI early Monday morning.

Unions are demanding a share of railway MAV's privatisation revenue for workers.

Intercity and express trains, with a few exceptions, are not running, MAV spokesman Imre Kavalecz said. International trains have been cancelled, with the exception of one train from Belgrade, which is on its way to Budapest, he added.

Budapest's Eastern and Western railway stations were almost empty around 6 am. MTI's correspondent said. No trains were indicated on the displays, and the information office said departures were unpredictable.

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Hungary fin minister says rail strike "unfounded"

Reuters: Dec 16, 2008
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs)

BUDAPEST - Hungary's finance minister said a two-day-old strike over pay by state railway workers, which caused severe disruptions on most services on Tuesday, was unfounded and their demands could not be met.

Railway workers' union VDSZSZ began a nationwide strike on Sunday to demand a 10 percent wage rise for outsourced employees and a one-off bonus of 250,000 forints ($1,267) for each worker from the sale of state railway firm MAV's freight unit.

Hungary's government sold MAV Cargo to Rail Cargo Austria earlier this year in a privatisation deal worth 102.5 billion forints.

"To demand 250,000 forints (for each worker) is unrealistic, this money cannot be paid by the government, there is no point to go on strike for this," Finance Minister Janos Veres told public television channel m1 on Tuesday.

"I am very sorry that citizens wishing to travel have to be subjected to a strike of representatives of meaningless thoughts. I think the conditions they demand are unfounded and they just cannot win."

Earlier on Tuesday MAV said in a statement rail service on most lines remained unpredictable. It said coach replacement services were running on some lines as express and intercity rail services were still not available.

News agency MTI reported that MAV failed to reach an agreement with striking unions at a meeting on Tuesday morning. It said talks were expected to resume later in the day.

Separately, a strike by two unions at Budapest Airport, a unit of Germany's Hochtief, entered its seventh day on Tuesday. The unions started the action for improved labour conditions, a new collective agreement and a halt to layoffs.

The airport operator said on its website both departing and arriving flights were running on time. It said no cancellations were expected apart from four flights scrapped by Hungarian airline Malev earlier.

On Monday Budapest Airport said it employed workers from other member states of the European Union to ensure smooth operation of passenger security controls.

In a statement, the unions said on Tuesday Budapest Airport employed foreign blacklegs to circumvent striking employees.