Arpechim Petrochemical Unit To Half Headcount

Over half of the approximately 600 employees of the petrochemical unit of the Arpechim chemical plant in Pitesti will be laid off by the end of the year, according to Agerpres.

The plant will lay off 360 employees and pay them severance ranging between eight and 15 salaries, according to the length of service, in line with the framework employment contract, union leader Marian Dumitru announced on Friday.

Approximately 60-70 per cent of the employees to be laid off have already received notice, whereas the others are scheduled to receive notice early next week, the same source indicated.

The layoffs became predictable a while ago, as the petrochemical unit of Arpechim stopped production in November 2008.

Several hundreds of employees rallied in front of the company"s administrative building on 16 September to protest the management"s layoff plans. Union leader Marian Dumitru said at that time that a conclusion had not yet been reached regarding the future of the petrochemical employees and that they would be subsequently informed in writing of the management"s decision.

The petrochemical unit of the Arpechim Refinery stopped production in November 2008 following the decision of its primary customer, Oltchim - Ramnicu Valcea, to downsize operations. The production halt did not affect the employees directly, as they remained employed to ensure the supervision and maintenance of the installations.

Shortly after this decision, on 24 November 2008, the employees staged a spontaneous protest trying to prevent the management from outsourcing and/or selling the petrochemical operations of Arpechim.

According to the union leaders, the nearly 600 employees of the petrochemical unit of Arpechim were triggered by a note sent by the management to inform them that they would be transferred to Petrochemicals - Arges as of 15 December 2008. The note also asked employees to sign a nominal table to confirm their agreement with the transfer.

"As the petrochemical operations are not part of the core business of Petrom, the company is interested in selling this line of business to a prospective buyer willing to make the necessary investments to develop it further. For the time being, Petrom and Oltchim are negotiating the potential transfer of the petrochemical operations," Petrom Spokesperson Ramona Zanfirescu said at that time.