Berceanu: Subway Unions Are Doing Profitable Business To The Company"s Loss

Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Radu Berceanu yesterday stated that the company controlled by the subway trade union was doing profitable business with commercial spaces and advertising spaces inside the subway, to the loss of the subway company itself. "Two contracts have been signed between the trade union"s company, Sindomet, and the subway company, Metrorex, regarding the commercial spaces and the advertising spaces in the subway system. The contracts were signed in the years 2000 and, respectively, 2007. Based on the first contract, the trade union takes 75 per cent of the proceeds, whereas Metrorex only takes 25 per cent. Under the second contract, the trade union was even more generous and accepted 69 per cent, whereas Metrorex takes 31 pr cent," Minister Berceanu told Agerpres.

Moreover, he stressed that the revenues derived by Metrorex from the two contracts amounted to approximately 250,000 RON per year and that the subway company did not have any say on any matter regulated by the contracts.

"I want to make it clear to the union that they cannot go on collecting nice sums of money from everywhere and demand salary raises despite the complicated situation the country is facing and, if they do not receive such raises, go on strike as if the subway was property of the 4,000 employees working for it. We need to have it clear in mind that half of the salaries paid to the employees comes from the subsidies paid from the pockets of the subway passengers," Minister Berceanu concluded.