Conflict of interests at Construcţii Aeronautice SA

On 15 September 2008, employees at the aviation construction company Construcţii Aeronautice SA Ghimbav (Braşov) staged a spontaneous labour stoppage which, after three days, turned into a general strike that lasted from 18 September until 2 October. After negotiations with the company’s management, the county authorities, and the Authority for State Assets Recovery (Autoritatea pentru Valorificarea Activelor Statului, AVAS), the trade unions resumed work on 2 October.

Causes of employee discontent

Construcţii Aeronautice SA Ghimbav (Braşov) has about 150 employee s. They unanimously decided to stop work at 08.00 on 15 September , without going through the lawful stages preliminary to calling a state of a conflict of interests.

The main reason for the sudden strike was the management’s failure to pay salaries for almost two months. Added to this was the worker s’ apprehension with regard to the future of the company. The Authority for State Assets Recovery (Autoritatea pentru Valorificarea Activelor Statului, AVAS), which owns the company, has remained silent about negotiations for the privatisation of the company, particularly with respect to the workers’ compensatory payments that usually accompany such negotiations.

The company’s prospects are insecure, because the board decided to go into voluntary liquidation, while AVAS would like to privatise the profitable units of the company. As the latter option takes longer, it may well exceed the deadline provided by law for compensatory pay for workers, which will apply only until the end of 2008.

Workers therefore feel threatened by the likelihood of collective redundancy without any severance pay.

General strike

After the first three days of spontaneous protest, the employees went on general strike, four hours a day, with effect from 18 September.

The union leader stated that the workers ‘stopped working altogether’ because AVAS had issued no response to their claims. ‘I find it unfair that they should have the right not to pay us, while we are obliged to work without being paid’, told the union leader to the local daily newspaper Monitorul Expres de Braşov.

During the general strike, the trade union members met with the Prefect of Braşov County, whom they asked to urge AVAS to speed up collective redundancies so that the workers made redundant should be able to benefit from the compensatory payments provided by law.

The Prefect said that ‘we want to calm things down and help the people working in this company. We will do everything in our power to identify viable solutions’.

The management explained that payment of salaries was overdue because of the failure of business partners to meet their payment commitments (60% – 80 % of the company’s production is contracted by US business partners).

End of the conflict

At the negotiations held during the period from 18 September to 2 October, the company’s management gave the trade union members assurances that the salary arrears would be paid as soon as possible, as long as current delivery commitments could be met. ‘If the strike continues, the next salary payments will also be delayed, because the company will not be able to satisfy clients’ orders, and the clients will not pay in time’, the company’s general manager told Amos News.

The trade union leader specified that ‘the day the money is transferred to the workers’ bank accounts we shall decide whether or not to call the strike off’.

The company’s management informed the employees of a salary increase of 5% with effect from 1 September, in compliance with the collective agreement, and that, within six months, the company would be put up for privatisation.

On 2 October, the workers ended their protest and went back to work.

Commentary

The resistance of AVAS to voluntary liquidation is generated by the fact that, in the case of liquidation, the company would forfeit the right to use certain licences and authorisations that are specific to the aeronautic industry.

Resumption of work to keep the company in business is the only reasonable way to ensure the success of the contemplated privatisation, and the trade union members have finally understood and accepted this.

Constantin Ciutacu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy