12.12.2022

AFTER PROTEST: ROMANIA'S PETROMIDIA REFINERY RAISES WORKERS' WAGES

Romanian company Rompetrol has accepted demands for higher wages by protesting workers at its Petromidia oil refinery.

The company agreed to a wage increase in the amount requested by the unions, effective March 1, 2023, to avoid problems with oil production and distribution of refined products in an extremely unfavorable and tense geopolitical context, Rompetrol said in a report. submitted to the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Hundreds of workers gathered in front of the administration building at the Petromidia refinery in Navodari to protest the company's decision to postpone negotiations for a wage increase until the spring. The unions and the company's management have been negotiating the increase since September, according to Romanian media.

The workers receive an income of about 3,000 lei (610 euros), which is not enough to support their families. Unions emphasize that the work is difficult and dangerous, given the events that can occur during their work. Employees have been waiting 2 weeks for a clear answer from the administration regarding salaries.

After the protest, the employees signed an agreement with the company to increase wages by 1,500 lei (305 euros) effective March 1, and will also receive a bonus totaling 3,000 lei (610 euros) to offset heating bills during the winter months. The refinery employs about 2,000 people.

"I signed the document with the administration to increase the salary from March 1 by 1,500 lei. The protest stopped. I have passed this on to the people. They received 3,000 lei, which is compensation for invoices from December, January, February, 1,000 lei for each month," trade union leader Petre Tankau tells news.ro.

Rompetrol Rafinare is part of the Netherlands-based KazMunayGas International Group (KMGI Group), 100% owned by Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company KazMunayGas. Petromidia, owned by the company, is the largest and most modern oil refinery in Eastern Europe, located on the coast of the Black Sea, near the largest Romanian port - Constanta. The refinery is one of the main producers of petroleum products in Romania and the Black Sea region.