A spontaneous protest of members of the metro workers' union USLM blocked the Bucharest subway on Friday morning, March 26, disrupting the public transport in the city. The protesting workers occupied tracks in the Piata Unirii station in downtown Bucharest, blocking the trains from running.

The protest takes place the day after the Metrorex management gave the deadline of April 2 for the shut down of underground commercial spaces. According to Hotnews.ro, these spaces are managed by the union's company.

"The so-called spontaneous protest is, in fact, a union action, during which USLM representatives refused any attempt to dialogue with the management of Metrorex. Although the unionists implied they have a list of requests, repeated invitations to meet with the company's management were completely ignored during the night," Bucharest subway operator Metrorex said.

Both the transport minister and the prime minister said the protest was illegal.

"An illegal action disrupts the life of an entire city. When mafia interests are threatened, a handful of people take action to preserve privileges and sinecures. […] Honest subway workers showed up for work this morning, for the benefit of commuters," transport minister Catalin Drula said.

"Don't be fooled: the stakes of illegally occupying subway tracks has nothing to do with the employees' interests. No, the stake is the onerous business of renting commercial spaces. This is beyond any suspicion given the notification sent yesterday for the evacuation of illegally occupied spaces after the expiration of the contract between Metrorex and the USLM's company in 2018," he also said, adding that he would not give in to the pressure of the trade unionists.

Prime minister Florin Citu also reacted to the Bucharest subway protest, calling it illegal. He accused Ion Radoi, the head of the metro workers' union and a former Social Democrat MP, of blocking the subway traffic because "he sees his sinecures disappear," News.ro reported.

Meanwhile, Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan announced that STB - the company running the network of buses, trams, and trolleybuses in Bucharest has increased its transport capacity on Friday, "so that the movement of Bucharest residents is as little affected as possible."

"I hope that Metrorex and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure will have a fast and productive dialogue, and the subway traffic will be resumed today," Dan said.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)