Romanian Rail Co CFR Marfa Management, Workers Sign 2011 Collective Work Contract

The management of Romanian state-owned rail freight company CFR Marfa and its workers' union on Tuesday signed the collective labor contract for 2011, which provides protection for the employees to be made redundant as the company is restructured

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Union leader Sala Voicu said Wednesday that the company's employees will renounce their holiday bonuses, to create a pool from which severance pay will be provided to fired workers.

The collective labor contract's clauses concern the individual labor contract, hiring, work conditions, wages, working hours, the rights and obligations of the parties in promoting fair working conditions, training and re-training, according to a press release.

On February 8, the unions in Romania's railway sector threatened to go on full-blown strike early March and triggered a work conflict Tuesday as collective work contracts have expired for all three state-owned railway companies.

Union leader Iulian Mantescu said, after talks with the International Monetary Fund, that the Fund agrees with the restructuring of railway companies and the privatization of freight rail company CFR Marfa, arguing the Government says this is the only solution for the country's railway sector.

"The unions do not agree with a new restructuring because the system has been through several such processes over the past 20 years and now has 50,000 employees from 230,000," Mantescu said, adding unions are also against the privatization of CFR Marfa, arguing it will probably be sold for too low a price because of the crisis.

He also said about 6,000 railway employees risk losing their jobs in March and April under the Government's restructuring plans and unions are determined to use all their powers to prevent that.

Mantescu also said Romania's railway system currently employs 56,000 people with an average net salary of 1,600 lei (EUR1=RON4.2584) per month in 2010 and collective work contracts expired on January 31.

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