Trains halt on May 31st for general strike; metro might follow

The Romanian state-owned railway operator CFR's employees will halt all trains on May 31st, joining a general strike which was announced by workers unions, and which will include employees from both the public and private sectors. The train stop action may be joined by Metrorex employees, which means metros might not work on May 31st either. The general protest comes after a first such street protest action this week, against the public wages cut of 25 percent and pensions drop of 15 percent, recently announced by the Romanian Government. Romania's Finance and Labor Ministries will continue talks with unionists until next Wednesday, when the Government is set to approve Romania's letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund. The unions have already discussed the letter to the IMF with Govt. representatives but they haven't reached an agreement. One issue concerns fiscality. Unionists supposedly request higher taxes, while the Government is in favor of keeping taxes at current levels, but reducing budget spending. Prime minister Emil Boc has recently said the Government will seek a confidence vote in Parliament to adopt the drafting spending cuts it has announced.