Romanian Dacia Employees Resume Work Monday, Set Protest For Tuesday

Union leader Ion Iordache said Dacia employees go back to work Monday at GMT 0500 and a protest will be organized Tuesday at GMT 1000, where employees will protest for the security of jobs in the carmaking industry and the keeping of the country’s car tax.

Iordache added 5,000 people are expected to attend the protest.

"We disagree with the Parliament’s decision to suspend the pollution tax on cars. Second hand car imports have destroyed and will continue to destroy the carmaking industry and we can’t just sit and watch this catastrophe. Over 5,000 employees of Dacia and its suppliers nearby will attend the protest.

Dacia halted production in December citing sharply declining demand on most its markets and put employees on technical unemployment. Employees received 75% of their due wages during the halt.

Dacia’s worldwide sales in increased 11.7% on the year in 2008 to a record 257,594 units, but were down 15.3% on the year in December, to 18,754 units, Renault said Friday.

On the European market, Dacia sales increased 39% last year, to over 112,000 units.

On the Romanian market, however, Dacia sales went down by a record 16.7% on the year, to 84,707 cars, and sales fell a sharp 55% on the year in December, to little over 3,600 cars.