There will be no shortage of downtime

Despite the long spring break, the usual summer shutdowns in Hungarian car factories will not be missed this year, writes G7 . In a crisis caused by the coronavirus, demand for new cars has fallen so much that if production were to continue, companies would accumulate unsold inventories.

The paper asked the Vasas Trade Union Confederation, the industry’s largest employee advocacy group, about the state of production. Vice President Zoltán László said that things are not going as they seemed at the end of last year, shifts usually go with a reduced number of people, not all shifts have resumed in most places, some areas do not produce.

Mercedes will take a pre-planned production break from August 17-23, Suzuki from August 10-21. Audi will not have a break in all areas, some will only have production in reduced mode.

According to László, since in many places the holidays have already been used up in the spring, the days will be shifted within working hours, but during the downtimes there will certainly be unpaid periods for some, and many will only receive their basic salary. Suppliers are often in a more deprived position, which is why it is the case that when they do not follow the law, they pay only 75 to 80 percent of their basic wages during downtime, as they say, this is the only way they can keep their jobs.

(Source: vezess.hu / photo: pixabay.com)