The railway workers are protesting on Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Transport, dissatisfied with the plan of measures announced by CFR Calatori, which they consider abusive, regarding the cancellation of around 200 daily passenger trains, with wage consequences for CFR employees.

„The demonstrations are directed against the lack of respect that the management of SNTFC CFR Calatori SA has towards employees, by deciding not to pay overtime that they cannot legally compensate, and against the lack of respect that the management of the operator shows towards passengers by deciding to cancel a quarter of the trains,” it is shown in a statement posted on the company’s Facebook page Meridian National Trade Union Confederation.

It is the second day of protests and it will be the second day of discussions between the trade union representatives and the secretary of state in the Ministry of Transport Ionut Saoiu, after, on Monday, a delegation of the protestors was received by the Transport official.

Moreover, the trade unionists have announced that they will protest every working day of this week, between 9:30 and 11:30.

„There were exploratory discussions on the subject of the restriction of activity at CFR Calatori at the beginning of the year, which may affect the stability of jobs. The dialogue will continue daily,” Ionut Saoiu declared for AGERPRES.

The trade unionists took to the streets to determine the Government of Romania, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the management of SNTFC CFR Calatori SA and the management of CNCF CFR SA to understand that the Ceferist workers who previously had work groups and are part of Traffic Safety want the application from September 1, 2024 of the provisions of art. 28. (1) letter 1) from Law no. 360/2023, bearing in mind that compliance with this law is a milestone in the PNRR. Other dissatisfactions are related to the large lack of personnel in the execution functions, but also to the continued undercompensation of CFR Calatori by the Railway Reform Authority (ARF).

Also, according to CNS Meridian, the demonstrations are directed against the current functioning of CFR Calatori and its subsidiary SCRL Brasov SA.

„The railway workers of FSTFR demand the return of the locomotive and automotive repairers from SCRL as employees of CFR Calatori, for scheduled overhauls and for current repairs. SCRL Braşov SA would remain as a repair company for major overhauls (RR, RG, etc.). The demonstrations are also directed against the fact that the Romanian state has invested, after the revolution and until now, too little in the railway infrastructure,” the document reads.

The Meridian National Trade Union Confederation supports the demands of the Romanian Railway Union Federation, which it considers „absolutely legitimate”, in the context in which the Romanian Government adopted the „trenulet” ordinance that affects both the rights of employees and the operation of CFR Calatori, developed a pension law that destroyed the rights obtained by railway workers through the Law on the Status of Railway Personnel, invested very little in the railway infrastructure, incorrectly distributed the rolling stock newly purchased by ARF, undercompensated CFR Calatori for the services performed and proposed a management that has not been able to demonstrate for many years that it can modernize and develop CFR Calatori.

AGERPRES