Energy again in the spotlight

Oltenia Energy Compound employees stage rally to protest against salary cuts and redundancies.

România Internațional, 12.02.2015, 13:31

Romanian Minister for Social Dialogue Liviu Pop travelled to Targu Jiu on Wednesday for talks with trade union representatives and the board of the Oltenia Energy Compound on the situation of the company, following a rally staged by some 5,000 of its employees.

After the meeting with the minister, trade unionists with the Oltenia Energy Compound, a company with 19,000 employees able to provide 40% of Romania’s energy demand, said they would not cancel their protest. Trade unions are unhappy with the board’s decision to cut salaries and lay off thousands of employees. They urged the minister to unblock negotiations over the new collective employment contract.

Neither did the company board make any concessions during Wednesday’s talks. The private manager of the Oltenia Energy Compound, Laurentiu Ciurel, says the company plans to cut salaries by 2.3% in 2015 and make 3,000 employees redundant as of March this year. More than 1,000 of the people who will lose their jobs work in the Berbesti quarry, which will be outsourced to the Govora Energy Compound, while the others are employees close to the retirement age. The latter will be included in a social protection programme and will receive 1,700 lei per month until they reach the legal retirement age.

The company board has informed all employees that unless a new employment agreement is signed by February 19th, they will receive no benefits, such as their transport allowance, meal tickets, free lunch, bereavement allowance and bonuses.

Minister Liviu Pop says the Government does not intend to close either the Oltenia or the Hunedoara energy compounds. This indicates that the executive has not reached an agreement with the visiting delegation of the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission which requested the massive and radical restructuring of two companies. Minister Liviu Pop:

“The Oltenia compound will not be closed down and we will not support such a measure, regardless of the external pressure exerted by those who would like to see Romania deprived of any form of energy security.”

Pop said, however, that the Oltenia Energy Compound needs to implement effective programmes to make it profitable. Trade unions in the mining and energy sectors have planned another rally in Targu Jiu, in a desperate attempt to draw attention to the disastrous situation of the company, as a result of its private management. They have sent Prime Minister Victor Ponta a letter, informing him about the difficult situation at Oltenia compound.

The Prime Minister says Romania needs all types of energy, be it hydro, nuclear, coal-based or renewable, but also restructuring and investment, as well as measures to increase the efficiency of such companies. Ponta has also announced that Economy Minister Andrei Gerea is working on a set of concrete measures to increase the effectiveness of energy companies in Romania.