Romanian railways company CFR's employees stage protest downtown Bucharest

Over 5,000 employees of Romanian railways company CFR are expected to protest downtown Bucharest on Thursday, July 25. The protesters will be on the move from 11,00 from the Transport Ministry headquarters near the North Railway Station, then on Calea Grivitei, Polizu and Buzesti streets to Victoriei Square, at the Government headquarters, where they will continue their strike. The protest ignited last week when 200 union members from the Federation of Train Engine Drivers went on strike outside the Finance Ministry, unhappy with the planned layoffs at CFR, the lack of compensation payments and with the drop in work time from five to four days a week. The CFR employees now have the approval for a 6,000 - person protest in Bucharest. The union members say they want salaries for CFR employees of at least EUR 500, and demand that resources are found for their salaries' increase too, as long as others in the company are paid huge salaries. They also ask for fewer layoffs, below the 4,000 threshold announced so far, as well as show their disapproval of the 20 percent work hours and salary reduction. editor@romania-insider.com