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Romanian metro workers in wage deal win
3 February 2006
A bitter labour dispute by metro workers in the Romanian capital of Bucharest has been settled after hours of negotiation towards the end of last month.
Workers represented by the ITF-affiliated Uniunea Sindicatelor Libere Metrou si Aviatie Civila won a pay rise of 14 per cent from 1 February following a general strike on 16 and 17 November last year and subsequent action on 11 January 2006. The general strike was later declared illegal by a Romanian court of justice when the company took legal action against the workers.
The union’s wage demand - a 23 per cent rise - arose during negotiations in October over the workers’ collective bargaining agreement for 2005-06. Metrorex, the employer, refused to pay up, claiming it had insufficient funds.
"After more than 12 hours of talks and negotiation, union representatives and Metrorex management reached a settlement. The company has dropped all legal action against the union. Our members are satisfied with the wage increase, which will be applied starting in February 2006," commented Mari Bratu of the union’s International Relations Department.
The union’s other demands – which include the improvement of working conditions and provision of adequate staffing levels – are up for negotiation.
The ITF is investigating whether or not the strike ban could be the subject of an International Labour Organisation (ILO) complaint. Outlawing strike action in this way could infringe workers’ rights to organise and to freedom of association as stipulated under ILO Convention 87/1948, which was ratified by Romania in 1957.
The ITF backed the workers by raising the issue with the Romanian President, the Ministry of Transport and Metrorex.
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