U.S. Constructor Bechtel Puts Layoffs Back On The Table In NW Romania

"We have received, Monday, the notification from Bechtel regarding the intention to collectively lay off 1,915 employees, starting April. The legal procedures for layoffs are not observed and we will inform the company of this. From the beginning, the procedure was initiated with disregard for the law, namely there were no prior negotiations with the unions," local employment agency manager Daniel Don said Monday.

He added he hopes the layoffs will not be followed through, since this might only be "pressure" applied by Bechtel to recover overdue debts from the Romanian Government for works on the Transylvania Highway.

According to Don, should Bechtel go through with the announced layoffs, the employment agency will initiate legal action.

U.S. constructor Bechtel said early February that all the 1,933 employees of the company who work on the Transylvania Highway construction site would be laid off as the country's public road authority CNADNR failed to pay its EUR214 million debt to the company.

The Romanian management of U.S. constructor Bechtel and local union representatives agreed recently that works would continue on the 10.2 km Campia-Turzii - Turda segment of the Transylvania Highway, bringing the overall distance to 50 kilometers to be completed, as long as financing is provided.

Bechtel finalized the first 42 kilometers of the Transylvania Highway, namely the Turda-Gilau sector, until December 1, 2009. The highway links central Brasov to western Bors on the border with Hungary.

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