Mayor Karácsony: Budapest bled to the limit, Orbán cabinet confiscating the municipality’s tax revenues
May 1 is a celebration of the work of 25,000 people who operate Budapest’s frontline services, Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, said on Thursday. “Budapest would not be the engine of Hungary’s economy without them,” he added.
“They looked after us during the pandemic, welcomed, helped and supported people fleeing from Ukraine, and protected our city during last autumn’s floods,” he said on social media. This work should not just be celebrated but appreciated, too, he said in a Facebook post.
The mayor said Budapest had been “bled to the limit” but would “fight for its workers”. A deal with unions was reached last December on a wage increase, improved working conditions, free health screening programs, and housing support for those working in Budapest’s frontline services, he noted.
More could be done were it not for the central government “confiscating” the municipality’s tax revenues, he added. As it is, he said, the real value of wages would be preserved both this year and in the following two years.
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