autoevolution
 

Protests Continue at Dacia Romania as Workers Ask for More Money

The Romanian Dacia Automobile Union has once again announced that the employees working at the main plant in Mioveni, Arges County, are ready to go on strike. The decision comes as the company is about to renew its labor contracts, a good occasion for the workers to demand bigger salaries. Since negotiations took about a month last year, there's a high chance that 2015 production will be delayed.
Employees at Dacia Romania 1 photo
Photo: http://0-100.hotnews.ro
When you work for the fastest growing car brand in Europe chances you’ll want a raise are high. Not that folks over at Dacia’s Romanian headquarters don’t agree with the idea, but it’s simply a matter of quantity. You see, the Union has been playing the same card for the last couple of years, which is betting on the fact that Romania’s national auto maker, currently owned by the Renault group, will always respond to their demands since nobody wants to get in trouble. Because trouble means smaller sells, which in turn results in money lost.

However, ever since Renault opened its new line in Tangier, Morocco, back in 2013, things started to be quite stressful for the Romanian managers since they’re obviously not willing to lose their spot in the business. Late 2013 found Renault expanding Dacia’s production at its plant in the North African country, a decision they made in order to help meet strong demand in Europe for the Sandero model.

Strikes are not really helping Dacia Romania, Salaries Keep Getting Bigger

Meanwhile, back in Mioveni, Romania - Europe’s fifth biggest car manufacturing facility in terms of volume produced - these repetitive strikes will definitely not help make things better. Especially that, according to Dacia’s statements, salaries are already a lot higher than what the average Romanian worker gets.

Romanian money

Last year, in April, when workers were once again on strike, the average gross salary of a Dacia worker in Romania was RON 4,428 (EUR984/$1,163), which means the average net salary is RON 3,105 (EUR690/ $827). You might think this is not a lot of money in comparison with salaries in US or in Western Europe, but for Romania it’s not really that bad.

At that time, the average Romanian gross salary was RON 2,224 (EUR 494/ $ 584), respectively a RON 1,576 (EUR 350/ $ 414) net salary. As we previously said it took a month of negotiations so that the two could settle. Both sides finally agreed on a RON 220 (EUR 48/ $ 57) and RON1,680 (EUR 373/ $ 441) yearly performance bonus raise.

The agreement seems quite decent since the Union’s leaders were asking for a RON 450 (EUR 100/ $ 118) raise, while the company was offering RON 175 (EUR 38/ $ 46).

How much do they want this time?

The Union’s salary demands are unreal: a RON 400 [EUR 88/ $ 105] raise - which is the equivalent of +15% for operators - and a yearly performance bonus of RON 2,300 [EUR 511 / $ 604] - which means +65% to the one in 2014,” Dacia explained in a statement according to 0-100.ro.

While the Union is simply thinking of the employees’ best interest, Dacia needs to be certain everything is stable and predictable so that the production volume remains on high levels. This is also one of the reasons the Romanian automaker suggested a two-year contract instead of a yearly one.

It's still not clear what is going to happen next, but the Union's representative claim their demands are negotiable. In a way, both sides have a solid point, but that doesn’t mean this strike couldn’t affect the current production line.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories