"The MC Federation's fences are ... the borders of the country"

Interview with Mr. Ion MOLEA, prime vice president of the Independent Comercial Movement Federation Union

Railway Journal: Mr. Molea, let's begin with a direct question: what were the latest discussions with the owners?

Ion Molea: On the 25 of July, we had a meeting at the Transport Ministry attended by the new Transport Minister and all the directors of the three railway societies: CFR-SA, the travelers' section and the transport section and the executive bureau of the Federation. The object of the discussion was to make known where the new minister stands regarding the every day issues of the companies represented by us.
On that occasion, a series of measures were drawn, that have started to be implemented following ulterior discussions in Calimanesti with "the group of the eight" as we call the directors of the Railway Societies of short routes.
We eager to see whether the income and expenses budget of every society will uphold the chapters regarding expenses given to the improvement of working conditions.
At the meeting we had sooner this year in Vatra Dorney we have already established a program with precise deadlines and persons that will be responsible of the plans' meeting the set terms within CFR-SA. A similar discussion was the one in Calimanesti where we talked with "the group of the eight" and the two directors of the Eroare! Legatura incorecta.. The two major issues that were debated were: working conditions and function hierarchy.

RJ: How many members does the MC Federation count?

IM: At this moment the MC Federation has as members 36500 of the 38000 employees of the MC branch. They are part of the five railway societies that got started almost two years ago and of the eight societies for traveler transportation that became operative this February. As a conclusion the federation is a kind of holding over territorial unions and MC trade unions of the 13 societies. The command structure is formed of an executive office including a president, a prime vice president, three branch vice presidents (infrastructure, merchandise, travelers) and the general secretary. Just as CFR-SA has eight regional departments as subordinates, the syndicate personnel is structured on eight units, each with a representative per activity segment.
We have 36500 people scattered all over the country. The fences of the federation are practically the borders of the country. The Independent Federation of the MC Trade Union is the only syndicate Federation whose members are distributed all over the railway network. This is why it is somewhat harder for us and at times information is late to arrive on the personnel's desks.

RJ: What are the problems you intend to solve in the near future?

IM: The management of the MC Federation was mandated to obtain an increase in salary for the current labor contracts. We were given permission to obtain a 72% increase for the inflation level registered last year and the one foretold for 2000. In April 2000, after almost 60 days' negotiations, an additional act to the labor contract was drawn, signed only by the MC Federation, an act that was later joined by the colleagues at the Wagons Federation and the Railroad Federation not including the Locomotive Mechanics Federation. This additional act only increased salaries by 40%. This was done in two stages: the first one- a 25% increase starting with April 1st and the second-15% starting with September 1st. We were assured during the meeting at the Transport Ministry on the 25 July that budgets will pass with the 15% increase and so they did.
As you can see inflation did not hold at 27-32%, but has already surpassed 40%. Aberrant increases in costs made people more and more restless and we have been receiving "signals" that say people want to "move" again. 15% is not comparable to what "the average pocket" is up against. The 40% increase does not solve our problems.
After the 15% on September 1st will be given to us we shall see what can be done for the rest of the months until the end of the year. I talked to the people leading the companies and as far as I could tell we do not lack resources. We must devise a way to include personnel expenses in the budget modifications that will occur in this time frame. After that the greatest unsolved problem remains hierarchy. There are 70 functions we have been unable to place and this means that salary distribution is not entirely correct. We decided that employers would offer an alternative by October.

RJ: How do the CFR SA changes affect you?

IM: There are a few items in need of debate here. Personally, I believe things like that should happen rarely, but the most important thing is that dialogue remains present between parties involved and that transparency must exist on both sides.
We already had a few meetings with Mr. Mihai Necolaiciuc, the new General Manager and he assured us that all items agreed upon at the Vatra Dornei meeting will be respected. Because he was one of the people who signed that agreement as manager of the CFR Iasi Department. I found him open to dialogue willing to talk and I believe our collaboration will prove fruitful.

RJ: Let us talk about Ion Molea, the syndicate leader. How long have you been involved with the railway syndicate movement?

IM: I have been a member since 1991 when a former colleague from the Bucharest Triage asked me to join the Union Trade. That fall they had elections at the triage and he persuaded me to run for "vice leader", as they called it back then. Since 1992 I started getting involved in trade union affairs outside the Triage. The syndicate leader we had then, Mr. Rolea was a highly trained professional, a cultivated man that taught me a lot. During those times, MC personnel was poorly organized throughout the country, people thought differently. We have been trying since then to build a superstructure, one federation out of many syndicates based only on MC functions. We went through a lot of stages. The federation had some results over the years and obtained a few things over the men. Those who are part of our structure must understand that things don't get done with the fist, that dialogue is the best way to solve the problems.
Trade union work is not exactly easy. Some people can't take the heat and leave. Others ruin their health. It is not easy deciding things and applying principles when some colleagues, sub-units syndicate leaders don't convey the information needed to the people on a constant basis. I think we need to introduce some courses to inform the personnel on the latest developments in Law, to improve communication, to find out the people's point of view. The times when a syndicate leader would negotiate on his own are long gone.

RJ: What does your agenda include further; will you continue to make a stand at the MC Federation?

IM: There is no secret; until December 15, new elections for CEOs will take place. According to the status the elections would have occurred in 2002, but because the president's chair is now vacant, the executive bureau and the Board decided that new general elections would occur until December 15. The people will elect the most valuable among them. One thing saddens me though- we need young, college trained people to involve themselves in this activity.
I would also like a better dialogue between the central command and territorial units.
The union trade is a structure that can and must negotiate from equal levels with the administrations. These hold some advantages awarded to them by the labor act - organizing, planning, managing. Normally, the union trade should be a permanent dialogue partner. Some companies understood that, because we insisted upon it.

RJ: What other problems occupy your time that you wish to "attack" in the near future?

IM: In the last eleven years personnel cut-off took the jobs of over 116 000 employees. We now found out that some new positions require personnel and instead of bringing in young people, we hire old ones, long due to retire.
Another problem is setting up the 1,5% fund that will be used for R&R, helping those that suffered from natural calamities, personnel facilities. A time will come, I am certain, when Romanian union trades will be regarded like any other countries'. They will be listened to. We made the first move towards parting from the old mentality: we have a young minister.

Silvia Mitulescu