VIDEO Protest at the Mangalia shipyard. The employees demand payment of outstanding wages and assurances that the activity will continue
Protests at the Mangalia shipyard Photo: National Union Office
Hundreds of employees protested on Friday morning in the premises of the Damen Mangalia shipyard because they have not received their salaries for two months. According to the National Trade Union Bloc, Thursday was the date set for the payment, but it was not made.
After the start of the protest, the representatives of the Free Navalist Union were invited to discussions by the Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Irineu Darău.
In a statement for news.ro, Laurentiu Gobeajă, the leader of the Free Navalistul Union, stated that the employees are dissatisfied with the non-payment of salaries and worried that the construction site will remain without activity.
“This morning, starting at 7.30, hundreds of employees gathered at the administrative pavilion on the premises of Damen Shipyard Mangalia, being dissatisfied with the fact that yesterday they should have received their outstanding salary rights, at least some of them, and they were not paid. They have no more work to do, the last ship that was undergoing repairs is ready, it is about to leave. We have no certainty that this shipyard will be able to continue its activity”, declared the trade unionist.
He stated that he wants to know from the Minister of Economy if the ships financed by the SAFE program will be built at the Mangalia shipyard.
“We want to find out if the memorandum will be adopted to establish companies of strategic interest that can access the guarantee fund for the extended period of up to 12 months and the rules for applying the law on the guarantee fund so that the employees can be paid by AJOFM from this fund for a period of up to 12 months. That would be a short-term solution. And regarding the patrol vessels and those for divers financed through the SAFE mechanism, if will do in Mangalia and when the actual construction of these projects will begin”, Gobeajă also specified.
