The third round of talks between the owners of Automobile Dacia and its union, which was held on Friday, has failed, while the general strike, started by the employees on March 24, will now enter its second week.
Out of the total number of Dacia employees, 42.6% are still on strike, which is about 5,500 people, out of a total 13,000, compared with the almost 6,350 at the beginning of the strike, according to information provided by Automobile Dacia officials.
The percentage of those on strike has gone down since March 24 from 48.8% to 45.8% on Tuesday, to 42.7% on Thursday and 42.6% at the end of last week.
Talks on Friday lasted for two hours, and union members turned down the management offer, dismissing it as unrealistic compared with "the very good labour productivity in the factory", as Dacia union leader Nicolae Pavelescu told Mediafax.
"Today's offer (Friday i.e.) is yesterday's and the day before yesterday's offer. The content doesn't change, what changes is the shape it is presented in and that's all. We want 550 RON and the management is offering much less. Under the circumstances, the general strike continues," Pavelescu said.
The general strike of the employees at Dacia has "enough elements to demonstrate it is illegal," says Mihai Acsinte, legal executive manager of Automobile Dacia.
The general strike at Dacia, representatives of the Romanian Foreign Investment Association (ARIS) say, could make foreign investors change their opinion and decision on Romania's attractiveness in terms of costs. At the same time, the decisions of those that have already announced plans for Romania, such as Ford's suppliers will remain unchanged.
"Such a strike does not bode well for any kind of investment, especially if it's foreign and in the automotive industry. However, I don't think it will make investors, especially Ford or their suppliers that will arrive in Craiova change their minds about the decision to invest, as it is clear they will see their plans through," Monica Barbuletiu, vice-president of ARIS stated.
The investments of six Ford suppliers, among which Bamesa and Kirchhoff, which have already started to look for locations to set up shop in Dolj county will amount to 150 million euros and create more than 2,000 jobs in that county. The value of all foreign investment projects announced for this year is 7 billion euros, according to ARIS estimates.
"Even with the strike, none of the investors interested thus far has postponed their projects because each of them has run its own forecasts and factored in potential wage raises," Babuletiu says. Such strikes, she adds, do not happen in Romania alone, but also in countries with an automotive tradition like France and Spain.
Despite wages continuing to increase in the domestic industry, the competitiveness of labour costs will not attract current investors to other EU member countries like Bulgaria, because they do not have Romania's other advantages, such as proximity to Western European export routes.
Romania's competitive edge as far as costs are concerned will continue to erode over the coming period, as wages come in line with the European average, so that automotive investments will remain East-bound, analysts believe. Romania will remain a viable location for investments in the sector, for an optimal period of around 3 to 4 years.
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