300 Miners Striking in Hungary Over Bonuses, Taxation
More than 300 workers went on strike at a key coal mine in southern Hungary on Wednesday, demanding restoration of cuts in bonuses and changes in a new income tax, state radio said.
The strike at the Mecsek mine near Pecs marked the first known worker protest against the stringent economic policies of Karoly Grosz since he became Communist Party leader in May.
State radio said that agreement was reached to restore the cuts in bonuses and that some strikers resumed work. Other strikers, said to include more than 300 miners and an unspecified number of office workers, will wait until today, it was reported.
The radio reported that the strikers threatened to stop work again if Parliament does not vote to iron out a quirk in a new tax law that gives some workers on sick leave more net income than those working normally.
The strike coincides with labor unrest in Poland but appears to be unconnected.
Reports of strikes have been extremely rare in Communist Hungary, although there were scattered reports of labor unrest in 1969, 1977 and 1980-81.
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