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14 March, 2000Solidarity prevails as convention delegates vote in favour of establishing one national union.
ROMANIA: Metarom, an IMF affiliate organising workers in the steel industry, held its 10th annual conference on March 7-9, 2000, in Târgoviste. About 100 participants, representing not only all member unions, but also international guests from France, Switzerland, Hungary and the IMF, heard a review of the organisation's activies over the 10-year period since its founding, in March 1990, and then held a lengthy discussion and vote on Metarom's project for a national union.
This project, to consolidate the 44 member unions in Metarom -- totalling 40,000 workers -- into a single national trade union organisation, was initiated by Metarom's leadership as early as 1995. Against the backdrop of deepening economic crisis and vitally needed restructuring in Romania's steel industry, and recognising the weakness of a fragmented union structure, a majority of the convention delegates voted in favour of establishing one national union, with one single legal status. After the vote, Aurel Radi, Metarom president, said it was an "historic day" for the Federation, and the result of considerable effort over the last few years. It is only the first step towards constituting the national union, as now the new rules will have to be discussed and agreed by each local union.
Employment in the Romanian steel industry has fallen from 207,856 in 1989 to 79,000 in October 1999, or 62 per cent in 10 years, and further cuts are expected within the framework of the steel restructuring programme required by the European Union as part of its conditions for negotiating Romania's accession to the EU. Metarom's most important action during this period, the Convention of Social Assistance for Steel, signed in 1996 but not yet implemented by the government, aims to provide both passive and active support measures for steelworkers during the restructuring process.
This project, to consolidate the 44 member unions in Metarom -- totalling 40,000 workers -- into a single national trade union organisation, was initiated by Metarom's leadership as early as 1995. Against the backdrop of deepening economic crisis and vitally needed restructuring in Romania's steel industry, and recognising the weakness of a fragmented union structure, a majority of the convention delegates voted in favour of establishing one national union, with one single legal status. After the vote, Aurel Radi, Metarom president, said it was an "historic day" for the Federation, and the result of considerable effort over the last few years. It is only the first step towards constituting the national union, as now the new rules will have to be discussed and agreed by each local union.
Employment in the Romanian steel industry has fallen from 207,856 in 1989 to 79,000 in October 1999, or 62 per cent in 10 years, and further cuts are expected within the framework of the steel restructuring programme required by the European Union as part of its conditions for negotiating Romania's accession to the EU. Metarom's most important action during this period, the Convention of Social Assistance for Steel, signed in 1996 but not yet implemented by the government, aims to provide both passive and active support measures for steelworkers during the restructuring process.