Romanian Regional Railway Employees Stop Activity, Bucharest Employees Threaten To Follow Suit

“Stopping trains is a violation of traffic safety. Through such actions we are losing the few passengers we have left. These spontaneous protests will have serious consequences; workers who stop trains may have their salaries cut or have their labor contracts annulled,” Axinia said.

The employees of several Romanian national railway company branches have stopped all activity for several hours on Wednesday and their colleagues in Bucharest threaten to do the same, unhappy with the delays in the payment of their salaries.

Engine Driver Union president Sala Voicu told MEDIAFAX that traffic controllers of several branches, such as Brasov and Iasi, have ceased to work, complaining that they have not received their salaries on time. The union leader pointed out that the protest is unrelated to Tuesday’s announcement that cargo railway company CFR Marfa will send around 7,000 employees into technical unemployment.

On June 10, railway worker protesters blocked eight trains in Gara de Nord, Chitila and Titu railway stations, which were supposed to head for Budapest, Timisoara and Constanta.

Gheorghe Popa, head of the Miscare Comercial Federation, said then that it all goes down to administrative issues, adding back salaries for May would be paid the next day. Popa also said the management of the Bucharest branch cited bank-related problems, which it notified to its employees.