80 employees of the alumina plant in Tulcea were laid off, after production stopped in 2022

More than 80 of the 186 employees of the alumina plant in Tulcea, Alum SA, have been on notice since Monday, they will receive at least eight and a half salaries as compensatory payment for the layoff, the president of the Liber Alum union said for Agerpres Tulcea, Darie Andrian.

Of the 86 employees, three are collaborators, the majority, namely 61, are workers.

“They will leave with notice at the end of the 20 days. They chose to come to work in the first two weeks, so that in the next two weeks they could look for work. They will leave with compensatory wages, according to the Collective Labor Agreement”, said president Darie Andrian.

He mentioned that since last week, the steps to identify new jobs for the laid-off people have started, the County Agency for Employment will provide pre-dismissal services starting on April 9.

“The chances that Alum will restart exist only if Alro Slatina restarts the three closed halls. This means a firm energy contract, with a reasonable price, not like the offers that I know the people from Alro somehow received for next year of 7 lei per kilowatt, exorbitant prices, given that Romania is next to Germany and the Netherlands at the highest prices in Europe, and countries neighboring us have a maximum of half of our energy price. Not to mention that Ukraine has 6 euro cents per kw, and here it is 42 euro cents per kw. The difference is colossal. There is no way you can compete with other similar companies under these conditions”, said the president of the Liber Alum Tulcea union, Darie Andrian.

The union leader mentioned that the laid off people are disappointed.

“The majority are disappointed, because there was always this hope, that the Government will make a decision, and Alro will have a firm energy contract, at a fair price. (…) Everyone says that the war (started by Russia, ed.) is to blame for the price increase. I am afraid that in fact there is a deliberately reduced production of energy, precisely to increase the price of energy. It’s easier to produce one kw and sell it for the price of three kw”, concluded Darie Andrian.

The alumina plant in the municipality of Tulcea, part of the Vimetco group owned by the Russian billionaire Vitali Matsitski, had around 780 employees at the beginning of 2022, the layoffs made in the first part of that year being caused by the increased prices of electricity and gas. The country’s only alumina refinery closed on August 1, 2022.

Established in 1973, the alumina plant in Tulcea provided the raw material needed for the plant in Slatina and was one of the main private employers in the municipality.

In recent years, the economic unit has put into practice several projects for the development of the products made, some investments also considering environmental protection.

Publisher: AC

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