CFM recalls hundreds of employees to work and announces payment of salary arrears
The more than 400 employees of the "Calea Ferată din Moldovei" (CFM) enterprise will return to work on May 4. Their forced leave lasted more than four months, due to high fuel costs, reduced cargo volumes and damaged infrastructure. According to the enterprise's director, salary arrears have been fully covered. The employees say they are looking forward to returning to work after facing several challenges.
Alexandru Dandara has been an engineer at the Chisinau Railway for 22 years. For the past four months, he has been on forced leave and has received only 55 percent of his salary, which amounts to about 4,000 lei. During the winter, he felt the strain of bills and was determined to save significantly.
"I have a pension, but it is quite modest, and that’s what I’ve been managing with. We were warned that we would be technically unemployed. I wish for a full salary and more passengers; there are many things I desire. There should be numerous reforms, but that’s just how it is," says Alexandru Dandara.
The employees of the Basarabeasca railway depot are currently temporarily unemployed. Occasionally, a few employees are called back to work.
Tatiana Martîniuc, a team leader, shared her experience: "I have often faced temporary unemployment; this is not the first time. However, this time it has been more complicated due to salary withholding. This situation always impacts our finances and can be very challenging. Thankfully, my children are grown and living in Chisinau, so my husband and I have managed.
When asked if she wants to return to work, Tatiana replied, 'Very much so. Work is fulfilling; staying at home makes you feel unproductive. When you go to work, everything changes. You want to contribute and be useful.'"
Currently, over 400 of the 3,400 employees at the "Calea Ferată" Enterprise are technically unemployed. However, this situation has improved with the introduction of new freight routes.
Serghei Cotelnic, the director of CFM, stated, "The salary debt was around 240 million, but it was constantly changing, ranging from 240 to 260 million. As we enter May, we have cleared all employee debts, allowing us to start fresh. A salary increase is absolutely necessary, and we will begin working in May to determine which sectors and professions will receive raises."
CFM's financial troubles began in 2009 when freight transport decreased by more than half. The decline continued into 2016, and by 2022, the situation worsened significantly after rail transit from Ukraine was drastically reduced due to the closure of the Odessa port. These changes resulted in a decline in the company’s revenues, which ultimately led to increasing delays in employee salary payments.
