site.btaStrike Causes Major Delays in Bucharest Metro

A strike on the Bucharest metro caused chaos on Tuesday morning. Many people were late for work as the trains were running very late and this led to people crowding at the stops, local media reported.

Employees of the most used mode of public transport in the Romanian capital are unhappy with a new regulation that cancels the salary increase for employees in the sector, agreed and foreseen in the Collective Labour Agreement signed in early December 2024. On Tuesday some of them will meet with representatives of the government, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in an attempt to find a solution to avoid a general strike. 

Metro Free Trade Union Head Marian Artimon said that  there is a staff shortage of more than 900 employees across the company. According to his information, the Bucharest metro serves about 700,000 passengers a day.

On February 3, he and his colleagues launched a warning strike, and two weeks earlier, on January 21-22, they protested in front of the Ministry of Finance demanding a wage increase and adequate funding for the company. They are also demanding that all metro staff receive daily food vouchers worth RON 30 (BGN 12).