• TAROM A318
    TAROM
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    RO/ROT
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Bucharest International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1954
    Alliance:
    SkyTeam
    CEO:
    Ursu Mihăiță
    Country:
    Romania

TAROM's pilots may go on strike next week Tuesday over a failed negotiation concerning salary raises. The Union representing its workers, SUT, is already collecting signatures.

To start with, the strike would be a short-lived one: it would only be in place for three hours, from 04:00 until 07:00. The Romanian flag carrier does not have many flights during this period of the day.

Explaining the reasoning behind this possible strike action, the SUT union that represents TAROM’s workers said (translated):

“Starting on 23rd August 2022, as a sign of protest by the pilot members of the Union (SUT), no TAROM aircraft will take off between 4 and 7. We will begin the protest timeline by notifying our employer of the intention to strike two days a week for no more than two hours, followed by a full general strike in compliance with all legal norms, on a date established by the Union as notified in the communication provided. (…) Negotiations that took place in the past happened with difficulty, and no agreement was reached with regards to the salary demands put forward by the Union.”

These negotiations started on 23rd June this year. The Union wanted to put in place a new collective agreement that would cover the whole company. The deadline that the parties have set for themselves to conclude the negotiation is on 23rd August.

A318
Inflation in Romania is 15%. Photo: Getty Images

Deadline looming

If, by 23rd August, the Union and the TAROM management do not reach an agreement regarding the demands that have been put forward, the employees will have the option of initiating a labor conflict procedure. They would then organize a general strike.

The Union claims that none of its demands have been met, except one: a tripling in the value of the meal voucher provided for workers on duty. TAROM’s management did make an offer during the meeting on 16th August, but the workers’ negotiating team did not find this offer acceptable.

The central issue at hand is that TAROM’s management is not willing to raise salaries across the company by 15%, which is the rate of inflation in Romania quoted by the Union.

TAROM 737-300
TAROM has historically been a loss-making airline. Photo: Getty Images

TAROM is loss-making

The national airline of Romania has been a loss-maker for years, long before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back in February 2020, before COVID-19 had led to an unprecedented slump in demand for air travel in Europe, the Government of Romania decided to grant state aid to its flag carrier, TAROM. The documentation that Romania supplied when it notified the European Commission of this decision indicates that the amount of state aid is €36,660,000 ($36.8 million).

Simple Flying analyzed the issue of state aid for TAROM back in 2019, posing the issue as a potentially contentious one because the airline is a chronic loss-maker with a dwindling market share in its home market and a seeming inability to run profitable operations.

Wizz Air and Ryanair are exerting strong competitive pressure on TAROM in Romania because they have a much lower cost base than TAROM. The Romanian market is more price-sensitive than markets in Northern Europe, where flag carriers can compete against their low-cost rivals on both price and service quality.

Source: AGERPRES

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