Romanian Railway Workers Threaten To Halt Trains Over 25% Wage Cut Plan

Boc said the 25% wage cut for the public sector will also be applied to employees in state-run companies, including lenders Eximbank and CEC Bank.

The railway union leader said railway workers already had their wages cut 26% this year compared to 2009 and the country’s rail sector is undergoing a massive restructuring process, which entails the axing of over 10,000 jobs.

„This is unacceptable and we will not accept a new wage cut. We’ll block trains if we have to,” Mantescu said.

He added railway workers will join protests planned by the country’s large union confederations for next week in Bucharest.

Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu said Monday the government is considering the introduction of a solidarity tax for employees in state-run companies, adding these employees’ wages would not be slashed by 25%, as planned for the entire public sector. However, the prime minister said Wednesday employees in state-run companies would also have their wages slashed 25%.

Union leaders said the measure to cut wages in state-run companies in illegal, because these wages are regulated by collective work contracts and deemed the plan „thoughtless and desperate”.

Recession-hit Romania, which is relying on a EUR20 billion IMF-led loan, has pledged to drastically cut public spending and reign in this year’s budget deficit to 6.8% of GDP. Cuts include a 25% reduction of public sector salaries and 15% of pensions, unemployment and other social benefits.

The IMF is expected to disburse a tranche of nearly EUR0.9 billion when Romania implements its promised reforms. The country has already drawn about EUR11.5 billion from the credit line provided by the IMF, EU and the World Bank.