TAROM union protests refusal of 35% salary budget increase

Roughly 200 union members are expected to protest low wages on Thursday in front of the company headquarters in Otopeni.

Members of the United TAROM Union (SUT) ask that the administration of Romania’s government-owned airline approve a requested wage hike.

The airline’s employees say they want a decent salary, and that they are treated poorly by the management during collective labor agreement talks.

“Considering the way in which these negotiations are going, we’re not excluding a labor dispute,” say representatives of the union cited by Agerpres.

A labor dispute occurs when two sides – employer and employee – disagree over workplace rights as stipulated in the employment contract or collective agreement.

“All the steps taken by the union since the beginning of the year regarding the increase of the salary budget by a percentage of 35% were treated with contempt by the management of TAROM, the Ministry of Transport, and even the Government of Romania,” SUT spokespersons added.

Some of TAROM’s employees will be let go in the following days after an evaluation done by PwC.

The protest will be attended only by airline employees that are not on duty. In this way, the company will not be financially impacted and TAROM passengers will not face delays or canceled flights.

(Photo source: Johnypan | Dreamstime.com)