4.000 employees to be sacked at Galati works

4.000 employees to be sacked at Galati works

The bosses of the siderurgical complex from Galati, the largest in Romania, want to keep by 2012 only 10.000 employees, from the actual 14.000.

When Mittal bought Sidex, it had 28.000 employees. Staff reduction is often practiced at Galati, even tough the ArcelorMittal Galati president, Augustine Kochuparampil says that "we will never ask somebody to leave".

The largest siderurgical group in the World, led by Indian Lakshmi Mittal, has high expenses in Romania and is trying to reduce them by all means. Mittal, the world's fourth richest man and often called "The man of steel", will try to raise effiency at Galati. The employees are below Mittal's standards

Mittal has expenses that can't be changed in the near future. Power and natural gases are more expensive and represent 12% of the factory's total costs, the Indians payed taxes of 630 million dollars to the state budget, since 2001. Raw materials imported from Australia, Brazil, or the US are also more expensive. "We pay 65% more for the iron ore, coal has a 100% raise, and the price for steel we produce had risen, but not that fast", said Kochuparampil.

Even though the steel produced by Sidex goes to Dacia or on the growing constructions market, the employees have not risen up to the standards required by the investors. "In Germany we produce 1.2 million tons of steel with 500 employess, and in Poland 6 millions tons with 6.000 employees. In Romania we produce just 4.5 millions tons, almost 303 tons per worker, but the target is of 600 tons per worker", said the director from Galati. He reminds the Romanian employess that "they had, in the last 2-3 years, larger wage raises than Poland or any other country".

The workers have a different opinion: "The highest qualified worker earns 700 lei, and the bosses have wages of 3.000 euro. This is why the average wage is similar to the one in Poland", said a Sidex employee.

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