Renault threatens Dacia workers with plant closure

Renault is threatening the Dacia Romania workers with the plant closure and production transfer to Morocco if a solution is not found to put a stop on protests.

French carmaker Renault, part-owner of Dacia and the Mioveni, Romania, facility, is threatening the unions with closure of the plant and the production transfer to Morocco, if the employees’ protests won’t stop.

The strike in these past few days has apparently caused Dacia 20 million EUR.

“If this protest will not end up reasonably and in a mutually beneficial manner and if employees will continue with unrealistic demands, there’s a greater probability to transfer an important part of production to Morocco. The advantage of the plants in Morocco is that an employee earns only 54% of a Romanian employee’s salary”, said Constantin Stroe, the Dacia vice-president.

The average payment received by a Dacia employee in 2012 was 3,965 LEI, before tax, which stands at approximately 900 euros. After taxes are paid, the average salary stands at approximately 2,100 lei, or the equivalent of 500 euros. For 2013, Dacia has decided to raise salaries by approximately 9 percent and to give its employees a Christmas bonus of 873 lei (200 euros), before tax and an Easter bonus of 957 lei, before tax.

Renault’s threats are similar to what North Korea is doing these days, showing its muscles, because the company has invested between 140 and 260 million euros into the Mioveni facility, annually, between 2004 and 2012.

Dacia’s employees are asking a 25 percent increase in salaries, a measure which should be included in the future work contract. The employees are saying that they are asked to produce a car every 40 seconds but the salaries are low and the company’s officials won’t negotiate anything. The protests have stopped recently after the carmaker has accepted to talk with the union leaders. Dacia’s sales in Europe have increased by 20,423 units, 15.4%, while the Renault sales fell 14.8%.