Some 1,500 Romanian postal workers picketed the Communications Ministry Tuesday morning over planned layoffs from state-owned postal company Posta Romana and threaten to go on full-blown strike unless the company’s revenues increase 20 pc by yearend, Mediafax informs. Besides the planned layoffs, postal workers were also disgruntled they have had to take a 10 pc pay cut.
Postal workers demanded the company scrap its unilateral decision to force them into two days’ unpaid leave per month, halt its layoff plans and draw up a short and medium term strategy to stabilize the company’s position on the local postal services market.
Employees said the company’s management has been keeping it under a continuous restructuring process for the past two years and the company is registering losses. The union said postal workers are sometimes forced to buy their own office supplies in order to do their jobs because the company doesn’t provide them. People fear for their job safety and say the post office has been under reorganization processes for the past two years and employees’ wages have been lowered by more than 10 pc recently. In response, Minister of Communications has asked postal leaders to trust in the restructuring and renegotiation of the collective started working so much from the top salaries to be made on company’s real economic data.
Posta Romana will continue its reorganization with the closing of 450 offices and restructuring of 1,400 jobs, having closed 900 offices earlier this year, bringing its network to 6,100 units, the company said on July 12.
