Union Federation Hidrosind yesterday picketed the headquarters of the Ministry of the Economy, of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) with 300 people for each location, protesting against the division of Hidroelectrica SA. Hidrosind considers that the Government"s plan to restructure energy production into two national companies is a violation of the common European energy policy.
Decebal Sulea, chairman of Hidrosind, said: "We have decided to notify the European Commission if the bill concerning the restructuring is introduced in its current form. We were received by the Minister of the Economy, Adriean Videanu, last week and we explained to him that we wish for a different form of restructuring which would involve the creation of holding companies. The current companies would not be dissolved and they would keep their legal personhood. This would mean transparency in setting prices. The current project will create two companies which would soon go bankrupt. In our opinion, the goal of the current project is to sell off the assets of Hidroelectrica, one of the last remaining national resources which were not sold off".
Unionists are intent on going on strike, once they select the third of the installations which will be kept operational during the strike.
Unionists of the "Univers" Federation also threatened action if the Ministry of the Economy fails to answer. These days they are currently picketing the Ministry. According to NewsIn, the vice-president of the "Univers" Federation, Cristinel Popescu, stated the following: "We are waiting to be called for negotiations. The only time we talked to Ministry officials was on Tuesday, September 15th, withTudor Şerban, Florin Mârza and Dan Ciontea, and we were unhappy with the results. A memo with the outcome of those discussions was drawn up and we were promised it would be sent to Minister Adriean Videanu. If we do not receive an answer within a week, we will continue with the protests". Unionists of "Univers" are protesting against the creation of the two energy companies.