The trade unions at Romanian aluminium maker Alro, but also employees of the company's suppliers, will rally on January 6 to protest against the management's decision to operate at only 40% of capacity because of high energy prices, Ziarul Financiar reported.

The high energy prices will eventually hit the entire Romanian industry, according to trade unions' representatives - who accuse vested interests behind the surge in the energy prices on the local market. The trade unions claim that 1,500 employees from Alro and other companies would be sent to technical employment as a result of the decision.

Alro's management officially announced that it would operate only two of its five aluminium production units in 2022. Although the management assured that no employee would be made redundant, the trade unions estimate that a large part of them would be sent to technical unemployment.

The trade unions' representatives claim that none of the institutions they asked for support - the Presidency, the Government, the Prime Minister, or the Ministries of Energy and Economy - hasn't answered their desperate messages. 

andrei@romania-insider.com

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