The Free Navalist Union, representing the employees of Damen Shipyards Mangalia SA (DSMa), is organizing two protest actions on Friday by picketing the headquarters of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands) and the judicial administrator CITR SPRL of the company DSMa, which is in insolvency.
“These protest actions are a direct reaction to the deep economic and social crisis affecting all employees at Damen Shipyards Mangalia. We have sent desperate calls for the yard to recover, resume activity and ensure job stability. However, the cries for help are being ignored,” the union said in a statement. According to the cited source, there is a risk that the yard will be closed, which will have an impact on the entire local community.
“There is a risk that this shipyard will be closed, and the employees are looking for solutions to avoid the bankruptcy of the company. Such an outcome would have a tragic impact on the entire local community. Recently, a restructuring plan was implemented through collective dismissal of a significant number of employees. If urgent measures are not taken to recover the shipyard, other collective dismissals are likely to follow. The growing uncertainty regarding the future of the largest shipyard in Romania, the long suspension of the company’s activity and the insecurity of jobs are leading us to protest. We are chanting in front of closed gates, while bankruptcy is knocking at the door”, the unionists claim.
They emphasize that the protest at the Dutch Embassy is motivated by the fact that the minority shareholder of DSMa is the Dutch company Damen Holding BV, and the Dutch Embassy has been constantly involved in supporting the economic interests of this company in Romania.
“The Ambassador participated in meetings between Damen representatives and Romanian state officials and was often present at events organized by the Damen Group. The ongoing blockade and destructive conflict between DSMa shareholders endanger the future of the shipyard, and the Dutch Embassy, having an important role in bilateral economic relations between the two countries, can facilitate the unblocking of this critical situation,” the document states.
At the same time, the unionists claim that they are protesting at the headquarters of the judicial administrator CITR SPRL because it has an essential role in managing the insolvency process of DSMa and in making decisions that directly affect the employees of the company DSMa. “The judicial administrator CITR SPRL is responsible for managing the financial situation of the company, identifying solutions for recovery and collaborating with creditors and shareholders to find a way out of the crisis. So far, however, CITR has failed to demonstrate to us that it can take concrete measures to guarantee the resumption of the site’s activity. We want to remind both CITR and the DSMa Administration that they have a responsibility not only to creditors and shareholders, but also to employees, who are the ones most affected by the procrastination of this situation that tends to worsen,” the document also says.
Through these protests, SLN wants to highlight the responsibilities of each party involved and send a firm message to all decision-makers: employees must not become collateral victims of this “shareholder dispute”. The workforce must not be sacrificed in this fight that can lead to a tragic outcome in which all parties involved will lose, the quoted source states.
“We have often been told that Damen is a family business and that we, the employees, contribute and are part of this group, but we cannot understand what we have done to be treated with such harshness and indifference by Damen. The employees have contributed through their work to the achievements and success of this shipyard for decades. We deserve real solutions, not uncertainty and ignorance. We are not asking for favors, but the right to earn our living through work. We ask the shareholders and the judicial administrator to take urgent measures to save the shipyard and jobs.
We will continue to fight for the rights of employees and for the future of the Mangalia shipyard. We request the urgent favorable resolution of this crisis and the assumption of responsibility by all parties involved for the recovery of this shipyard by resuming the company’s activity and ship production in order to prevent the company’s bankruptcy,” added the representatives of the Free Navalistul Union in Mangalia.