Bucharest subway employees threaten to strike if they lose bonuses

Employees of Romania’s state-owned subway company Metrorex threaten to go on strike in December if their bonuses for special working conditions are eliminated from the company’s budget. Union leader Ion Radoi told a news conference Monday employees might trigger a work conflict mid-November and go as far as staging a full-blown strike if the Government lowers the company's budget or eliminates workers' bonuses for special conditions when it drafts the 2011 state budget. Metrorex workers have also organized protests earlier this year. Radoi said he met with Metrorex manager Gheorghe Udriste, who said the International Monetary Fund has required a cut in wage costs, namely the elimination of bonuses and widening the 25 percentwage cut in the public sector to state-run companies that incur losses. The union leader said the subway company isn't registering losses but a debt to Alstom, which provides maintenance services, adding he doesn't understand why the company is on the IMF's list of monitored state companies. Metrorex employs 4,300 employees. According to the union, the subway company is faced with a staff shortage of about 500 people, as the number of passengers has increased and subway lines have been extended to include four new stations. Mediafax