Employees of Romania's second largest bank to start protests today

Romanian lender BRD’s employees announced that they would picket the bank’s headquarters in Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday and that they would start a general strike if the management didn’t listen to their demands. BRD’s headquarters are located in Victoriei Square, across the street from the Government’s building. The bank’s employees’ union has made several demands that remained unanswered by the management, according to union leaders cited by local Hotnews.ro. They have asked the bank’s management to inform the employees about restructuring or reorganizing projects that may affect jobs, to increase the gross salaries by RON 100 (EUR 22.5) per month, to maintain the profit bonus for employees, which the management wanted to replace with a different bonus, and to grant the employees a RON 700 (EUR 158) net bonus for buying business outfits that comply with the bank’s internal rules. The union leaders also accused the management of lack of transparency and pointed out that a high number of specialists had left BRD for the competitors. BRD’s management said they offered the employees a benefits package based on performance and social protection, which is adequate for the financial industry. The bank’s offer includes private pensions, meal vouchers, bonuses for the bank’s anniversary, private health insurance, and annual bonuses. BRD is Romania’s second largest lender by assets. It is controlled by French group Societe Generale. The bank had a net profit of EUR 86 million in the first nine months of 2015, ten times higher compared to the same period of last year. editor@romania-insider.com