The agreement puts workers’ interestsfirmly on the industry agenda. Its aim is to contribute to the competitiveness of the Hungarian battery industry and its ability to attract and retain workers, while establishing a framework for regular exchange between VDSZ and the Hungarian Battery Association on issues affecting both workers and the future of the industry.

The scope is substantial. The two organisations will cooperate and consult on employment, wages and income policy, education and training, environmental protection, occupational health and safety and labour protection also in cases of restructuring and downsizing. They will exchange professional and practical experience, including on legislation affecting the sector and possible changes to the Labour Code.
Health and safety will be a particularly important area. VDSZ has repeatedly raised concerns about workers handling substances without sufficient information about the risks or appropriate protective equipment. The agreement creates another channel to bring these concerns directly into discussions with industry representatives.

For industriAll Europe, the agreement is therefore an important milestone, not only in Hungary but for the European battery value chain.
This is why, already in 2023, IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll Europe initiated an international exchange on the emerging battery industry, bringing unions together and opening dialogue with other actors across the battery value chain. The Hungarian Battery Association was among those involved in the first joint international battery supply chain meeting in Budapest.

Two clear lessons emerged: workers need strong, organised trade unions to make their voice heard. But meaningful dialogue also needs counterparts on the industry side who are ready to engage and negotiate. Building worker power and functioning industrial relations must go hand in hand – it takes two to tango.

industriAll Europe therefore made battery organising a strategic priority and, with the support of an EU-funded project, launched Putting Trade Union Power into European Batteries – BatteryTUPower. Hungary became one of its priority countries. The project combines organising, training, occupational health and safety work, mapping and digital organising . The objective is clear: build membership and bargaining power so that workers can influence the development of the industry and negotiate good collective agreements.

VDSZ has been one of the driving forces behind this work. The union has organised workers and built trade union structures in major battery plants in Hungary, often in a challenging environment. At the same time, it has consistently sought dialogue with employers, industry representatives, public authorities and other stakeholders.

This combination matters: dialogue is strongest when workers have organised power behind their voice.

Battery workers in Hungary have increasingly made that voice heard. They have raised concerns about health and safety, wages, job security, restructuring and working conditions. At the same time, growing public and political scrutiny has put pressure on the battery industry to demonstrate that investment and industrial development can deliver safe, decent and sustainable jobs.

The new agreement reflects a growing recognition within the industry that constructive engagement with trade unions is part of the solution.

As VDSZ President Tamás Székely stressed when announcing the agreement, VDSZ is not a lobbying organisation for the battery industry, but the fighting representative of the workers employed in it. "The agreement creates a new basis for structured dialogue between organised labour and an important representative of the Hungarian battery industry. It opens the door to a more regular relationship where workers’ interests and the challenges facing the industry can be discussed directly. This can be an important step towards stronger industrial relations and, over time, genuine social partner dialogue in the sector." he said.

Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of industriAll Europe, says:

“We congratulate VDSZ and the Hungarian Battery Association on this important step forward. It shows that building trade union power and constructive dialogue can and must go together. Workers need strong unions to make their voice heard, and industry needs to engage with those unions in shaping the future of the sector. We will continue to support our Hungarian affiliates. The next step is to turn dialogue into concrete improvements through collective bargaining and collective agreements that secure good wages, safe and decent working conditions and greater stability for workers and the industry. At European level, industriAll Europe will also work to bring trade unions and industry counterparts together and create the conditions for regular social dialogue in the European battery industry. Europe’s battery industry can only be sustainable and competitive if the workers who make it possible have a strong voice in shaping its future.”