Railway Strike in Romania

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Page context: Solidarity > Solidarity in Action > 2005 Solidarity > Railway Strike in Romania

3 July 2005
UPDATE: STRIKE OF ROMANIAN RAILWAY WORKERS HAS COME TO AN END

The strike organised by the Romanian railway workers had come to an end on Thursday 30 June. The Romanian railway company sued the engine drivers’ unions to court and their strike was finally declared illegal by court decision of 30 June. This will give the company the possibility to claim compensation from unions for service interruption during the whole duration of the strike.

An overview of the situation…
Of the initial union demands - 1) adjustment of pay according to the current level of minimum wage on economy; 2) improvement of working conditions; 3) additional luncheon vouchers – the company came with proposals only with regards to the last two demands. With regards to pay, the company refused to touch the wages invoking the ‘ban’ of the IMF for the companies monitored by this international institution.

Pressure on trade union leaders continues. The government has stated several times during the labour dispute that further restructuring will hit the railway sector! In the usual note, unions are waiting for more information about this process from the media.

'28 June 2005
UPDATE: STRIKE OF ROMANIAN RAILWAY WORKERS

On Wednesday 20 June the Court of Appeal and the Tribunal of Bucharest gave their ruling on the two strikes going in parallel at the Romanian railway company: the strike of infrastructure maintenance workers and that of the engine drivers. While both strikes were declared legal by the Court of Appeal, the Tribunal of Bucharest suspended for a period of 30 days the strike organised in the rail infrastructure company. The engine drivers’ strike should have come to an end – according to Romanian legislation – by today, 28 June and should have been followed by an arbitration process. However, the engine drivers decided to continue the strike.

The ETF affiliate Federatia Drum de Fier informs the ETF that pressure on unions is mounting up. The employer has put trade union leaders under investigation. On the other hand, the Prime Minister expressed himself in favour for more restructuring in the sector, since – he said - the Romanian railway system can for weeks run at only 1/3 of its total capacity!

Meanwhile, within the last week there has been only one meeting between social partners, of 10 minutes, held yesterday morning.'

last update 22/06/2005:

Pressure on unions is a substitute for social dialogue and consultations!

Three of the total number of six Romanian railway trade unions – the engine drivers and wagon maintenance services - went on strike on 8th June after failing to secure an adjustment of monthly salary to correspond to the current level of the minimum wage on economy.

This in the context where no pay raise is envisaged for the sector for the period 2004 – 2006. The government intervened swiftly asking the Romanian Court of Appeal and the Tribunal of Bucharest to declare the strike illegal and to suspend it. However, the strike was pronounced legal and continued, with a minimum service of 1/3 trains provided during the strike period.

On 20th June Federatia Drum de Fier organising workers of the infrastructure company joined the strike action, with a daily interruption of service between 07:00 – 11:00 am. Once again the Romanian government and the railway company went for legal action against the unions. The unions were given short notice (24 hours) to organise their response in court and the case is currently judged almost simultaneously by the two courts, making it difficult for the unions to attend both trials.

Other demands of the railway workers: additional luncheon vouchers and improvement of working conditions (upgrading overnight accommodation facilities; providing workplaces with running water; upgrading workplaces).

During the last two weeks:
The railway unions held several rounds of negotiations with the company. However, the minister of transport has been in contact with the unions only once, informally and for a short duration, despite the keen interest of the unions to discuss their situation with the governmental authorities. The Romanian railway company made a preliminary offer of 10% of the budget to be allocated to improving working conditions and of a small increase in number of luncheon vouchers.

With regards to pay raise, the Romanian government justifies its tough stand in various ways. Thus, last week the Romanian Prime Minister stated that pay raise would mean an immediate increase in the price of train tickets and tried to involve the Romanian public opinion in this debate. In parallel, the government blamed its rigidity on the IMF, the Romanian railway company being currently under the strict monitoring of this institution. However, the ETF was informed by its affiliated member that the IMF had agreed on an increase of the salary fund in all monitored enterprises.
Ultimately, the government blamed the railway unions for the decline of the rail sector market share and threatened with re-distribution of freight and passengers to other transport modes such as roads.

Mobilising trade union support nationally and at European level:
The National Convention of Romanian Transport Workers (gathering together 180,000 workers from all transport sectors) to which the 6 railway unions are affiliated nationally have sent protest messages to the Romanian government vis-à-vis the government’s practices in dealing with the demands of the colleagues from the rail sector. Transport unions from other sectors consider organising solidarity strikes in case rail unions’ demands continue to be ignored.

The ETF NOTES once again that pressure on workers and trade unions are the substitute for consultations and social dialogue. The ETF will inform its 215 affiliates and, together with the ITF, will urge them to support the Romanian railway unions in effort towards the recognition of social rights, social dialogue and towards setting up of adequate consultation practices. The ETF will inform the European Commission – DG Enlargement and DG Social Affairs, Employment and Gender Equality – of the above mentioned state of affairs.

You are urged to join the ETF in its support action. Please Download, sign in and send the sample letters below.

Also, below are the ETF letters of support for the labour dispute of the Romanian railway.

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