Romanian Rail Co CFR Marfa To Lay Off 3,000 Employees As Of June 1 – Union Leader

He said the management must wait ten days or worker representatives to respond with measures to avoid the layoffs, and up to 30 days for an answer from the Labor Inspection.

Mantescu added the union expects to be called in for a meeting with the management this week, to discuss protection for the redundant employees. „Initially, we agreed on six times minimum wage for each person, but I heard the Government approved an emergency ordinance for severance pay in various fields, not including transports, which is discriminatory,” he said.

The other two national railway companies, CFR Calatori and CFR SA, will notify the unions and Labor Inspection about their layoff plans soon, said Mantescu.

In mid-February, the unions and management of CFR Marfa signed the collective work contract for 2011, which provides protection for the employees to be made redundant as the company is restructured. The company’s employees will renounce their holiday bonuses, to create a severance pay fund.

Mantescu said, after talks with the International Monetary Fund, that the Fund agrees with the restructuring of railway companies and CFR Marfa’s privatization, as the Government says this is the only solution for the country’s railway sector.

According to him, the public railway sector employs 56,000 people, with an average net monthly salary of 1,600 lei (EUR1=RON4.1084).