“The place of the dog and the postman is outside”. General strike at the Romanian Post Office. The employees announce an indefinite protest. What will happen to pensions?

There is a strike at the Romanian Post Office, and the employees say that we are talking about an indefinite protest. Romanians who are waiting for their pensions and allowances are afraid that they might receive the money late, as Romanian Post employees say they will not return to work until their salaries are increased. The authorities in Bucharest say, however, that there can be no question of delays and have sent workers to take over the tasks of the strikers.

By the Observator editorial team on 01.04.2024, 14:08

The first day of the postmen’s general strike began with a scandal in Buzău. Several representatives of the Romanian Post Office from Bucharest were sent to distribute pensions in place of the striking workers.

Emil Cioriia, director of OPM Bucharest: Do you want, please, to make a single pact, only to take the pension money today?

Employees: No! You can not! Do you have money, do you have money?

Emil Cioriia, director of OPM Bucharest: The money is here, madam!

Employees: Where here?

Emil Cioriia, director of OPM Bucharest: You have them for three days.

Employee: Go where you have work! You will only enter here over my dead body.

It was not possible! The employees prevented them from entering the post offices, and the scandal moved to the street. “We are not allowed to condition a social right. That money is intended for some vulnerable categories in Romania”, said Emil Cioriia, director of OPM Bucharest.

And in Cluj, the employees were outraged by the fact that 13 workers from Bucharest entered the Cluj Regional Logistics and Courier HUB last night. The strikers complain that after 30 years of activity, their salary is not even enough to pay the bills. “The last time I took 1988 lei, after 8 years of Post Office. Your parents help you, whoever can help you. You manage as best you can,” says an employee. “You have to work in various atmospheric conditions, from 40 degrees Celsius to -15 degrees in winter, in the snow, in the rain. The place for the dog and the postman is outside,” said another employee.

In Timisoara, the Romanian Postal Workers’ Union wants a 400 lei salary increase. Their request was rejected. “The general strike means, simply, 400 lei net. It’s about loyalty, which was demanded over 25 years of 25%, we’re waiting. I’ve been employed for 33 years. We’re managing to the limit”, complains an employee. “If they don’t give us, we will go on a constitutional strike. All our colleagues are sitting here, until they give us 400 lei we won’t move anything,” says another employee.

And in Constanţa, the people who came to the Post Office returned with unresolved issues. “We had to collect a warrant. We comply, what should we do? It’s their right,” said a customer. In Baia Mare, the strikers say they are under pressure to give up the protest. “The strike is a constitutional right that we have. We are desperate, if we got to sit, people who have been working for decades in the post office, to sit in front of the Post Office and refuse to do our duties”. Postal workers say the protest continues indefinitely.

The demands of trade unionists from Pošta Română

“The National Trade Union Bloc, through the Romanian Postal Workers’ Union, reports the first pressures being put on the postal workers, union members of the SLPR, who want to go on strike,” the unionists claim, presenting images they say were filmed in this night in the Cluj Regional Logistic and Courier HUB of the Romanian Post.

The union claims that the images show 13 Romanian Post employees, sent from Bucharest, to replace those who went on strike on Monday in the Cluj Regional Logistic and Courier HUB. “Following this decision, postal workers from the Logistics and Courier Regional Cluj HUB protested and demanded that they leave the premises of the HUB, as they are not employees of this branch of the Romanian Post”, states the union.

The union claims that employees from Bucharest were also sent to Târgovişte. “The National Trade Union Bloc, through the Romanian Postal Workers Union, also reports pressure on the Târgovişte Post Office, where a delegation of three people, employed at the headquarters of the Romanian Post National Company, arrived this morning, April 1, 2024, from Bucharest, for to stop the strike of SLRP members from Târgovişte”, the trade unionists claim.

“18,000 of the more than 21,000 employees of the Romanian Post, i.e. a percentage of 90%, regardless of their position, regardless of their responsibilities and seniority, from July 2024 they will have the minimum wage in the economy!”, is the message sent by the Romanian Postal Workers Union, affiliated to the National Trade Union Bloc.

The union points out that 115 days have passed since the management of the Romanian National Post Company made the first decision regarding the 2024 Collective Labor Agreement. with responsibility this document that regulates labor relations between employer and employees and maintains social peace in a company. Only in the last 4-5 days, after the registration of a labor conflict, after a warning strike and the notification of the general strike, at the express request of the majority shareholder – the Romanian state through the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, the company’s management began to make available to the union representative – the Romanian Postal Workers’ Union, data and information on the basis of which calculations can be made regarding the salaries of over 20 thousand workers in the Romanian Post”, the press release of the Romanian Postal Workers’ Union states.

The trade unionists say that it is well known that many of the employees of the Romanian Post have wages at the minimum level in the economy. According to the union, “the salary claims of the employees represented in the negotiation by the Romanian Postal Workers’ Union – the legally representative union at the Romanian Post level, are:

• the increase of 400 lei net of employees’ salaries;
• increasing the loyalty bonus granted in installments, to employees who have worked for Romanian Post for more than a certain number of years.

“The management of the Company responded to these demands by establishing a house union, led by the former general manager of the company and former advisor to the current general manager, together with which he signed an agreement promising the postmen salary increases that they would in fact, the law imposes on them the month of July 2024. The postmen refused to be manipulated and are determined to strike. We ask the beneficiaries of the services provided by the Romanian Post, mainly pensioners and social categories as poor as the postmen, to be with us and to ask together with us from the management of the company and from the competent authorities, the fastest possible resolution of the our requests”, says the union.

“The Romanian Postal Workers’ Union expresses its willingness to negotiate during the strike period, in the presence of the minister of digitalization – Bogdan Ivan, in his capacity as a representative of the Romanian state, the majority shareholder of the Romanian Post, in order to find solutions to the claims made”, the press release states.

The reaction of the Romanian Post

The National Company “Pošta Română” sent on Sunday, in a press release, that it has made available to the employees all the financial possibilities of the Company to avoid this collective labor conflict.

“The company requested mediation, but the SLPR representatives refused this. In the context in which the intense negotiations carried out since the end of last year between the National Company “Pošta Română” and the SLPR have not reached a result, and the SLPR has decided to initiate a general strike by part of the employees, the Romanian Post makes the following clarifications: v The Company The National “Pošta Română” will ensure the exact distribution, in accordance with all contractual and legal provisions, of mailings and social rights for all customers, and their delay is excluded. We assure all clients, partners and banking institutions of the stability and functionality of the services, as well as the solidity of the ongoing management policies” announces the Romanian Post.

The company emphasizes that “the escalation of the labor conflict is artificial, and the National Company “Pošta Română” has taken all measures to overcome it.

“We assure the more than 2 million pensioners who receive their social rights through the National Company “Pošta Română” that there will not be a single person who will not receive their rights on time, in April! All social rights will be delivered on time, until APRIL 15, as we have assumed the commitment!”, says the Romanian Post.

The National Company “Pošta Română” states that the overwhelming majority, over 80% of employees, will perform their work duties professionally, as before! Approximately 20% of the Company’s employees joined the collective labor conflict in writing.

“I want to assure, first of all, all the more than 2 million pensioners who receive their social rights through the National Company “Pošta Română” that there will not be a single person who will not receive their rights on time, in April! All pensions will be distributed on time, until April 15, as we have promised so far! The information regarding the impact on the population is false and is transmitted in bad faith!” said Valentin Ştefan, general director of the Romanian Post.

“The National Company “Pošta Română” has taken all the necessary measures, at the management level, and will continue to make every effort to overcome this collective labor conflict. Now it’s only up to the SLPR representatives to make the best decisions for the employees they represent,” the company said in a statement.