Federation head Gheorghe Popa said that unionists asked government to approve the offer forwarded on January 30 through an additional act to the Collective Labor Contract that would stipulate a RON500 minimum wage as of January 1 and of RON570 as of May 1.
The leaders of other railroad unions in the country have not decided if to go on strike, saying they do not observe the legal basis- the number of signatures-to start the conflict.
Unionists are displeased with the current offer forwarded by the authorities, which stipulates a 4% wage increase as of April 1 and another 4% as of October 1. They say that they had previously agreed with railroad authorities to increase the minimum wage for the sector first to RON500 starting January 1, and then to RON570 as of May 1, 2008.
However, the agreement was no longer observed after the government adopted the memorandum on limiting wage increases for monitored economic operators to 8% compared to 2007.
On February 1, employees working in the railroad sector took action against the new wage grid for 2008 and froze the activity of trains in several train stations.
Unionists announced at the time that this is a “voluntarily action”, determined by Government’s decision to limit wage increases in 2008 to 8% compared to 2007.