Romanian flight controllers cancel strike

The Romanian flight controllers’ strike that was supposed to start on Tuesday, September 1, will no longer take place, as the management of the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration (ROMATSA) has reached an agreement with the union representatives. The ROMATSA union leaders announced on Monday that they have reached an agreement with the company’s management on all of their 14 demands. They said, however, that the general strike programmed for September 1 would only be canceled if the new collective labor agreement was officially registered at the labor authority by then. Romania’s Transport Minister Iulian Matache announced on Monday evening that the flight controllers’ strike would no longer take place. The flight controllers’ union representatives have negotiated with the ROMATSA management over the weekend, after the company’s general manager resigned on Friday. ROMATSA is a state-owned company controlled by the Transport Ministry. ROMATSA’s employees are among the best-paid in Romania. However, they decided to go on strike after their negotiations with the company’s management over the new collective labor contract failed to end in an agreement. They made several requests saying that these were “life or death issues” related to passenger safety. The flight controllers first went on a two-hour warning strike on July 15, after which the Transport Ministry promised to fulfill their demands. However, in August, the flight controllers announced they would go on strike on September 1, as ROMATSA’s management didn’t honor the agreement they had with the ministry. The Bucharest Court decided on Friday that the strike was legal. A flight controllers’ general strike would have blocked the air traffic on Romania’s airports and would have caused losses for airlines as well as problems for thousands of passengers. The general strike of Romanian air flight controllers will cause losses for travel agencies Air flight controllers in Romania to go on general strike next week editor@romania-insider.com