5,000 Romanian postal workers protest
About 5,000 postal workers and their trade union leaders have marched through the streets of the capital to protest low wages and a heavy workload and to demand new uniforms.
They shouted “Down with the government,” and “We want to be paid for our work,” as they rallied outside the giant palace built by the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
The protesters traveled to Bucharest from the cities of Cluj and Oradea in the northwest and Iasi and Bacau in the east to call on the government to allow the state-run postal system to hire more people to cope with an increasing workload.
The postal system is profitable and has a surplus of 70 billion lei (US$2.1 million), but the government has included it on a list of state-owned firms that can’t hire new workers until the end of the year.
Many workers make an average of 3.8 million lei (US$113), below the national average monthly salary and work 10 hours a day, but are not paid overtime, they said. Workers would like to be paid for overtime from the post office’s surplus.
“We want to be compensated for overtime,” said Olguta Cocrea, 47, from the eastern city of Bacau, who takes home 3.5 million lei (US$105) a month. She said she hasn’t received a new uniform for five years.
Finance Minister Mihai Nicolae Tanasescu was quoted by private news agency Mediafax as saying he would study the requests. He said that the company needs to be financially controlled by the state.
“It’s a state company, so the financial surveillance is necessary,” Tanasescu said.
Union leader Costel Ovidenie said the post office needs 2,300 more employees.
Romania’s 35,000 postal workers travel by foot or bicycle to deliver mail. They are not provided with vans or cars.
