More than 200 employees protest at Galati steelworks

More than 200 employees have protested on Thursday at the main entrance gate of the Galati steelworks (eastern Romania), the third protest in the past two weeks, all of them caused by wage discontents.

The employees of the plant, who should enter the work shift at 14.00h, have arrived earlier in order to protest, as they did last week. Their number is rising, because there are more employees coming from the city and stop at the entrance gate. Protesters have vuvuzelas and chant “thieves, thieves!” romaniatv.net reports.

The employees are dissatisfied with the current wage levels and with the fact that the plant administration does not accept the requested increases in the negotiations for the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CCM).

The steel workers say they have very low salaries, and a net salary increase of RON 500 is considered satisfactory, threatening with a general strike if this demand will not be met.

On the other hand, the administration of the steel plant has offered a gross wage increase of maximum RON 100. At the same time, the management also proposes that the 20% increase for difficult working conditions be included in the wage, as well as the 20% resulting from the transfer of tax obligations from the employer to the employee. All these provisions should be included in the new CCM, which should be signed for two years, an offer rejected by the employees and by the trade union.

The only representative trade union of the AMG Siderurgistul calls for a wage increase of RON 350, a 50-100% increase of benefits for the free days worked, the increase by RON 500 of the five annual bonuses and the increase of the meal vouchers value to RON 15.

According to AMG Siderurgistul trade union Vice President, Vasile Crişan, the last round of negotiations for the completion of the CCM is scheduled on Friday, after which, depending on the outcome and the decision of the employees, the trade union could start the legal steps to trigger the labour conflict, all the way to the general strike.

The Galati steel plant has approximately 15,000 employees.

amg siderurgistulbargaining agreementccmcollective labour agreementemployeesGalati steelworksgeneral strikeprotestsalarysteel planttax obligationstrade unionvasile crisanwages
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