Nearly 200 former employees at Mechel Campia Turzii, laid off last January and February, gathered in front of the complex yesterday morning demanding to be paid the three month severance pay they are entitled to, Mediafax reported. Protesters say they should have gotten their severance package within 45 days since they were laid off. The protest turned violent, with the former employees forcing the plant’s gates open in order to take with the unit manager, breaking into the administrative building and breaking a window in the process.The protest came to an end after company officials promised the workers food vouchers, though protesters said they would return today, February 28, the severance pay deadline date. The company shareholders’ representative told a videoconference with the protesters’ delegation, also attended by Cluj County. Deputy Prefect Mihnea Iuoras said that the company will comply with the Romanian law. “We will pay food vouchers to the laid-off workers. That’s all I can tell you for now,” the delegate said, adding he would go to Campia Turzii on Friday to see the situation on the ground and asked protesters to write a memorandum of demands. In his turn, union leader Ioan Pascu said that the three-month severance pay for the 700-plus workers come to a total of nearly EUR 500,000.
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