Workers at Electrolux factory in Romania reject management’s second proposal to end strike

The management of the Electrolux oven plant in Satu-Mare, northwestern Romania, announced on April 17 that the trade union rejected their second proposal for ending the strike.

The company's representatives said the union leaders' refusal to engage in a dialogue and find a solution since the onset of the strike jeopardizes the factory's future.

Some 400 of the plant’s employees, most of them earning some RON 1,700 (EUR 360) per month, have been on strike for more than six weeks asking for a flat RON 350 pay rise. They refused the management’s compensation packages including medical insurance, proportional pay rise (12.7% per year in the next two years), and sort of a “loyalty bonus” of RON 200 (EUR 42) per year.

According to a press release issued by Electrolux Satu Mare on Wednesday, the salary package offered by the factory management is "attractive" considering the salary level on the local market. The minimum statutory net wage in Romania is just above RON 1,400 (EUR 298) while the average net salary in the industrial sector is around RON 2,600 (EUR 553).

Electrolux management invited employers’ representatives for more negotiations on April 18.

(Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Panoramio.com, Credit: Szemes Elek)