The Problems Surrounding Hungary’s “Slavery Law”: Fake News?

The Hungarian parliament adopted, an amendment to the labor law, including the increase of the number of legal overtime hours per year from 250 to 400 maximum (a misleading broad range used by the opposition, since not everyone is concerned by the 400 maximum) in December 12, 2018.

The liberal opposition disrupted the vote, and a demonstration was called immediately in front of the parliament for the same evening. Demonstrations organized by liberal and pro-Brussels opposition parties. Several police officers were injured, dozens of people were arrested, and street furniture was degraded. The Christmas tree and the children’s sleds surrounding it were vandalized but saved in extremis by the police.

1. No, the law that has just been passed in the Hungarian Parliament does not impose a requirement for employees to work unpaid overtime, but simply increases (by about one third) the number of paid hours one can be asked to work overtime; therefore, the “slave law” nickname that the opposition press has hung on it is, to say the least, exaggerated.

2. No, no “masses” have materialized in the streets of Budapest. Despite the exaggerations of said press (which are widely repeated abroad – in particular by a Romanian press which simultaneously turns its back on the French Yellow Vests …), the demonstrations against the “slave law” (as aerial photos would easily prove) have merely consisted of a few hundred or, at most, a thousand people. With only structural unemployment left (i.e., nearly all employable people are already employed), the Hungarian labor market is now dominated by the employees. It’s therefore a sure bet that most of the protesters are not personally affected by the new law.

Once the propaganda has been swept away, it would be interesting to view this new Hungarian development in the broader context of those continental European countries which are burdened with a disastrous birth rate and yet are still seeking to limit the influx of non-European immigrants: for example, Austria’s 60-hour work week, or Russia’s increase of the age of retirement. In the long run, one may wonder whether their plans to preserve the ethnic identities of their respective countries will remain compatible with the needs of capitalism, which, by destroying family values in the industrialized countries, is tacitly demanding the globalization of the workforce.

To sum up we can empathize that while Hungarian opposition spread the fake news in order to weaken the ruling party. In the meantime, Hungarian government used this statement again to mention the immigration problem of Europe on its own favor.

To sum up we can empathize that while Hungarian opposition spread the fake news in order to weaken the ruling party. In the meantime, Hungarian government used this statement again to mention the immigration problem of Europe on its own favor.