Romanian Unionists At Bechtel Threaten With Protests If Govt Doesn’t Fund Hwy Works

Pressures include protests and picketing the prefectures if funds are not ensured, regional secretary of the “Familia” Union, Nicolae Fenesan, told a press conference Tuesday.

“If we aren’t heard, our efforts will be followed by protests, picketing the prefectures, and our actions will address the authorities. We will take the same actions aimed at Bechtel and hold general meetings in which union members will decide what needs to be done. It’s important to do concrete things for the people and the highway,” Fenesan said.

A political decision needs to be taken to continue works at the Transylvania Motorway, Fenesan added.

“We will put pressure, and we’ve already sent adresses to the Prime Minister, the Ministries of Transport, Finance and Labor. We’ve also talked with the national company for highways and roads. A political decision needs to be taken as works on the highway need to continue under legal terms, and so does the contract between Bechtel and Romania’s Government,” Fenesan said.

Union leader within Bechtel, Mihai Lup, said during the same press conference there are currently some 300 people in charge of maintenance works on the Transylvania Motorway, while the rest of the employees are put on reduced pay during technical unemployment.

“Some 1,200 employees on the site of the highway were put on technical unemployment as of December 10, 2008 until February 9. The rest of the employess were sent home as of January 5, thus there are only 300 people left who are in charge of maintenance,” Lup said.

Unionists will act to prevent Bechtel from resorting to the massive layoff of the 2,300 employees on the highway’s site, as included in the company’s plans.

Bechtel sent a memo Monday to the employment agency in Cluj, northwestern Romania, saying it has not resorted to collective layoffs yet, and talks with the unionists continue.

“The reasons why we initiated the collective layoff procedures are linked to the way the contracts with the National Company for Highways and Roads is managed,” the memo said.

Head of the employment agency in Cluj, Danie Don, said if Bechtel sacks 2,000 employees working on the Transylvania Motorway, then the decision will be taken to court as it has not observed the legal procedures regarding initial consultations of the unionists and the fact that the object of work still exists.

The Cluj branch leaders of Romanian union Cartel Alfa summoned the government and the prime minister to carry on the works on the Transylvania Highway and to find the financial resources needed to avoid layoffs and the shutdown of the project. The union within American constructor Bechtel, the company contracted to build the highway, issued the same request.

The highway’s project manager, Michael Mix, said in December construction works at Transylvania Highway will be significantly reduced, as Romania’s national roads and highways company owes EUR27 million to US constructor Bechtel and 14.7 million lei (EUR1=RON4.2985) accounting for the value added tax of works certified since July.

“The highways company also encountered difficulties in ensuring access to the land, in relocating utilities, in removing wastes and dangerous materials, and also in unloading the archeological mass. Under these circumstances, we find it impossible to keep the current level of works,” Mix said.

He said the measure might affect 2,300 employees, and the staff put on technical unemployment will be paid according to the legal stipulations in Romania, until workers are to be called back to work.

Construction works on the highway started in 2004, based on a EUR2.2 billion contract attributed to US constructor Bechtel. Works were halted mid-2005 when Romanian authorities started looking into contracts concluded under the previous government. The highway is due completion in 2013.

By mid-August, the company had only completed five kilometers of highway from a 25-kilometer sector, linking Gilau and Campia Turzii.

Romanian then Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said mid November he is “bothered” by the slow pace of works on the Transylvania Highway, saying the Government is not willing to ensure funding “exceeding what Bechtel is able to carry out”.