Romania to axe more than 1,000 railway jobs
(BUCHAREST) - Romania is to axe more than 1,000 railway jobs under reforms agreed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, the CFR Calatori railway said Tuesday.
The company "is further implementing the reform programme agreed with the IMF, the EU and the World Bank in order to return the Romanian railway system to profit," it said in a statement.
A total of 1,143 railway workers, out of some 14,000 working at CFR Calatori, will lose their jobs.
Trade union official Iulian Mantescu told Mediafax news agency that he rejected the plan.
"We shall go to court over it because we haven't been consulted," he said.
About 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) of loss-making railway lines will also be closed, the company said.
Overall, Romanian railways decided in 2010 to shed more than 10,000 of their 76,000 jobs because of a 45 percent drop in demand for shipping goods and a 20 percent drop in demand for passenger services.
Romania agreed in 2009 to large-scale cuts in exchange for a 20 billion euro ($26 billion) loan from the European Union and the IMF.
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