The President of the National Bloc of Trade Unions (BNS), Dumitru Kostin, appealed on Thursday to the leadership of the PNL and the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) to investigate the mismanagement of the PNL leadership at Posta, where almost 60% of workers will receive the minimum wage. In response, the company claims workers are not being paid the minimum wage, and says it paid about 2 million lei annually in salaries to union leaders who were “taken out of production.”

Against the background of collective negotiations regarding the signing of a collective labor agreement, the head of the National Bank of Romania, Dumitru Kostin, on Thursday blamed the inefficient management of PNL Romanian Post, given that the evolution of operating income and gross profit in real terms clearly indicates the constant deterioration of the company’s financial condition.

• “The selection of managers in companies with state capital, the new theses from the European Commission and the OECD are known, with corporate governance, with transparent procedures by which we choose the “foam”, the elite of managers in Romania, there are some lies built on facts, for years.
• Since the mid-1990s, everything that stands for public capital has been and continues to be subjected to a continuous process of expropriation through which political chambers are installed in the management of these companies.
• The Romanian post office is currently under the control of a team that, as a political source, comes from a structure created from “sea foam”. A few years ago, when they were called the foundation, they then became the PACT party.
• Today you can find them left to right in the management of the Romanian National Postal Company (…) This artificial political creation was swallowed to order by a respectable political formation, the National Liberal Party. They were there, in the belly of the National Liberal Party for several years,” said Dumitru Kostin, as quoted by Agerpres.

He added that the current management of the Romanian post office is behind “those who push the buttons”.

• “When this “zero comma” appeared in Romanian politics, in the PNL there were those from the buttons behind it who said that you should also give them leadership positions in the party, vice presidents at the national level, at the level of Bucharest or in other in the cities of the country where they were present, today in the management of the company: Valentin Štefan, Gregor Teodorescu, Valentin Chirice, Claudiu Ilie, Iryna Smarenditsa, Diana Mardarovici, and the list is long. All these characters come from this political structure hidden in the belly of the PNL,” the BNS leader said.

Kostin, NBS: Almost 60% of postal workers earn minimum wage

According to the data he provided, the company’s average salary is very close to the national minimum gross salary, and a significant number of employees have salaries very close to the national minimum gross salary.

• “According to our estimates, we are talking about almost 60% of all workers who receive the minimum wage, regardless of the work they do, professional training and responsibilities they have in the company.
• The trend is to increase the number of minimum wage or extremely low wage workers in the company. There is a risk that with the increase of the minimum wage on July 1, we will count not 60%, but 80% of employees who receive a salary at the level of the minimum wage at the post office,” said Dumitru Kostin.

He appealed to the PNL leadership as well as the Minister of Digitalization and the National Anti-corruption Authority (DNA) to investigate the PNL leadership’s mismanagement of the post office, threatening a general strike if action was not taken. works in the company.

He appealed to the Minister of Digitalization of the PSD, Bohdan Ivan, with a request to make public the results of the investigations conducted by the Control Body.

• “Let me remind you that last fall, the ministry announced the start of the inspection. In addition, then Valentyn Štefan (General Director of the Post Office) challenged the minister’s attitude and his approach.
• Then Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku intervened in the case. Let me remind you, he publicly declared that he would also send the prime minister’s control body.
• Let’s see what happened to these famous controls and what they achieved. Soon it will be six months…”, Kostin said.

Last but not least, the president of the National Bank publicly addressed the new head of DNA, Marius Voynei.

• “Since the spring of last year, we have received information that there was political pressure on this case to slow down the investigation. We are ready to appear before the investigative authorities together with other Romanian Post employees, who in turn are ready to provide information and documents to help you quickly and efficiently complete the investigations you have already started at the level of this company. Do not politically hide this approach to investigating some of the dirty things that are going on in this company, for which you, as well as the political leaders, are responsible for the fact that in the future almost 20,000 people will still be left in poverty and with miserable wages or failure to meet the investment plan as a result of capital increase,” he said. – added the BNS leader.

The management of the Post Office accuses the head of the National Bank of Serbia of fake news: There are no workers in the economy who receive an income at the level of the minimum wage

In response, the management of “Poshta” sent a press release, in which they accused “a series of false, humiliating and slanderous statements made in the public space against the company.”

Regarding these poisonings, the National Company “Romanian Post” makes the following statements:

• All wages and other entitlements are protected and paid on time. The Company’s management is planning a broad program of raising and transforming the salary scale into a reliable basis.
• The national company “Poșta Română” ensures the distribution in accordance with all legal provisions of social rights for the entire population of Romania, and their delay is excluded, regardless of the personal interests of some members of the trade union organizations.
• All investment projects implemented by Poșta Română are presented in the table, the Management Plan is fully respected.
• At the moment, there are no employees in the Romanian Post Office who receive an income at the level of the minimum wage in the economy. In 2021, Romanian Post had an average gross income of 3,350 lei, and in January 2024, the average gross income was approx. 5000 lei gross.

In particular, regarding the “false statements presented at the press conference by the National Bank of Romania”, Pošta also provided the following clarifications:

• The Company’s budget supported the salary of “off-the-job” trade union leaders by approximately 2 million lei each year, who do not go to work, but only carry out trade union activities.
• The proposed Wage Regulation referred to by some uninformed union leaders is not currently in place as it is being developed alongside a modern pay scheme for all workers which includes a commission system at the postal industry average.
• The future system opens up the opportunity to earn up to 1,200 lei net, in addition to the current salary, for all workers involved in parcels and financial services, such as postal services, clerks and managers.
• Regarding the capitalization of 2018, we inform you that there is no risk of its recognition as state aid.
• The Romanian post office is currently going through the biggest digitization process in the last 30 years, after a period of reform and restructuring, which was completed after a delay caused by trade unions, a restructuring that did not affect operational staff, despite the support of certain angry people.
• Costs for appearing in the mass media for the past year amounted to 0.02% of the company’s costs.
• The result of the Auchan project, as well as other projects carried out in partnership with private legal entities, was the creation of the Real Estate business unit, which currently provides an additional stream of income for the Company and operates in most regions of the country.
• Investments in logistics, namely digital mailboxes, hubs, last-mile infrastructure and more, are on the chart. Currently, a team formed by experts in the field is creating the necessary documentation, following the benchmarks of the Management Plan.
• As for the activities of the National Company “Romanian Post” in Chisinau, a customer support service was launched for the entire region of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, where you can call at no. by phone 0219393 and providing quality services.
• Regarding the universal service, Post Romania ensures its high quality throughout the national territory and reminds that the current commercial parameters of the Convention with ANCOM were established by the persons who managed the company at the time, who are now trade union leaders.
• Insurance broker Posta Română is a legal entity without activity and economic entity, which was founded in the past and transferred to the current management due to lack of activity. The announcement of the newly established bankruptcy procedure is a formality, the Company’s employees are not affected by this decision.”

Regarding the statement “Romanian Post is not interested in signing a collective labor agreement”, the management of the post office notes that although it is not necessary, since all the rights and benefits of employees are already protected by internal regulatory documents, it is obvious that a collective labor agreement is useful for the company.

In order to sign this collective labor agreement, Poșta Română constantly insisted on fair collective bargaining and SLPR’s rejection of unrealistic claims that could cause serious damage to the company.