Romania’s transport ministry has agreed to hike wages after a spontaneous strike caused chaos on the country’s railways on Monday.
Transport ministry officials met railway trade union leaders for talks after the unofficial walkout led to the cancellation of 261 trains or prevented them reaching their destination.
Many trains were running hours late due to the strike.
Transport ministry said in a statement that salaries would be raised in line with consumers prices in 2022. Romania has entered a period of inflation after energy prices soared this year.
Some of the trains literally stopped on the tracks due to the industrial action.
School pupils were stranded in Constanta after their train was affected by the strike. They were later picked up in buses, News.ro reported.
Despite the promises, the salary hikes are contingent on next year’s budget being passed in Parliament, the statement said.
Both sides agreed to identify solutions to staffing issues including periodic meetings about the situation with Romania’s antiquated state railways.
Some trains run slower than they did in the communist period and the railway lines are trains need urgent investment to turn them into a modern European rail network.
“Some 261 trains were blocked. We are waiting for them to start running again,” the statement said.
The Romanian State Railways, CFR, has 22,000 employees.
Romanian railway infrastructure ranks 26th out of 28 in the European Union. Malta and Cyprus don’t have a railway network.
The average speed of Romanian trains is just 50 kilometers an hour, less than half the EU average.
