ECHR rules Orbán government's restriction on teachers' right to strike was unlawful

The Orbán government’s restriction of teachers’ right to strike in 2022 was unlawful, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg ruled on Wednesday. The Teachers’ Union (PSZ) and the Teachers’ Democratic Union (PDSZ) filed their case with the Strasbourg court back in 2022, where they were represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ).

The judgment issued by the ECHR pertains to the lawsuit initiated by the unions, which was subsequently combined with the cases of two teachers involved; the judgment is not yet final. The Hungarian government has until January 6 to file a request for a retrial. According to the reasoning, the Orbán government’s decision represented a disproportionate restriction on both teachers and teachers’ unions—the state exceeded the discretionary scope granted to it, and the restriction on the right to strike was not justified in a democratic society.

Judit Lannert, Minister of Education and Children's Affairs, also commented on the recent ruling on her social media page, stating that the ECHR had affirmed her ministry’s decision. “I am convinced that teachers should not be humiliated but respected, and that their professional opinions should be given due weight. One of my first decisions as minister was to change this practice,” she wrote, referring to the amendment to the Public Education Act passed in August, which, among others, made it easier for teachers to go on strike.

The Orbán government had issued a decree restricting the right to strike back in February 2022, on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. The decree stipulated minimum mandatory requirements, meaning that even if teachers were on strike, childcare had to be provided in schools and preschools, and certain classes had to be held. This was done after the teachers' unions called a nationwide strike at the end of January that year, which saw more than 20,000 teachers participate in the two-hour protest. Due to restrictions on the right to strike, the unions appealed to the Constitutional Court, but their petition was rejected on procedural grounds, after which they took their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.