Between polarization and statism – effects of the crisis on collective bargaining processes and outcomes in Hungary

In Hungary, collective bargaining processes and outcomes have been comprehensively restructured since the start of the economic crisis. This article presents two channels through which the crisis has affected collective bargaining in the country: direct economic challenges and political change. The economic challenges intensified processes that had started before 2008, leading to further polarization of the labour force in the private sector and further austerity in the public sector. The shift in the political environment, on the other hand, has had a more fundamental transformative impact, shaking the institutional underpinnings of collective bargaining. The findings presented here suggest that the Orbán government has been pursuing an ambiguous course in labour relations, combining elements of radical neoliberal reform and state interventionism. Following Bohle and Greskovits’ 2012 framework, these developments are interpreted in the context of broader political-economic contradictions that embedded neoliberal regimes have to confront.