The workers of Romanian locomotive repair shops went on unannounced strike in the morning of December 20, causing massive train delays in a period of the year when the people travel more than usual - including by train.

The companies will undergo an economic streamlining process next year, as part of the Resilience Plan, minister of transport Sorin Grindeanu commented.

The railway workers were reportedly given a 10% hike, Hotnews.ro reported, compared to 30% asked by the trade unions, and the strike ended in the afternoon of the same day.

According to passenger railway company CFR Calatori, the workers protested against the prorogation by one year until January 2023, of law 195/2020, regarding the Railway Staff Statute.

Minister of transport Sorin Grindeanu explained that the state-owned railway companies could not afford the wage hikes provisioned in the Railway Staff Statute, of some 40%. The 10% hike alone will cost some RON 1,000 mln (EUR 200 mln), he argued, Observatornews.ro reported.

In exchange, the trade unions’ representatives stressed that the wages of the railway workers are anyway small - close to the minimum statutory wage in the case of the workers in the locomotive repair shops.

The personnel was furthermore reduced, to 11,500 from 13,000 in the case of the passenger railway company CFR Calatori. 

(Photo: George Calin/ Inquam Photos)

andrei@romania-insider.com