A strike in the Bucharest metro caused chaos this morning. Many were late for work, as the trains were running very late, leading to crowds at the stops, local media reported, quoted by BTA.
Employees of the most widely used form of public transport in the Romanian capital are unhappy with a new regulation that cancels the increase in salaries for employees in the sector, agreed and provided for in the Collective Labor Agreement concluded in early December 2024. Today, some of them will meet with representatives of the government, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in an attempt to find a solution to avoid a general strike.
According to the chairman of the trade union organization "Unity – Free Union" Marian Artimon says the entire company is short of more than 900 employees. According to him, the Bucharest metro serves about 700,000 passengers per day.
On February 3, he and his colleagues began a warning strike, and two weeks earlier, on January 21 and 22, they protested in front of the Ministry of Finance, demanding a salary increase and adequate financing for the company. They also demand that all metro staff receive daily food vouchers worth 30 lei (12 leva).