Trade unions address crisis in Jiu Valley mining area

In June 2009, the National Trade Union Bloc and the Mining Trade Unions League of the Jiu Valley met the stakeholders of the Jiu Valley mining area to agree on actions and programmes aiming to improve the socioeconomic prospects of an economic sector in severe crisis. The talks ended with the appointment of a committee charged with finding development solutions through programmes, with the help of financial support from the European Social Fund.

On 9 June 2009, the National Trade Union Bloc (Blocul Naţional Sindical, BNS) and the affiliated Mining Trade Unions League of the Jiu Valley (Liga Sindicatelor Miniere Valea Jiului, LSMVJ) called a press conference to highlight the serious problems affecting inhabitants of the Jiu Valley in southwestern Romania in general and the mining industry workers in particular. After the press conference, the organisers announced that talks would be held on 27 June in Petroşani, the most important town in the Jiu Valley.

Problems highlighted

Among the hardships which the trade union leaders brought to public attention were the high unemployment rate, the premature ageing of an active working population due to harsh underground working conditions, widespread respiratory ailments, and the depletion of the region’s young labour force, most of whom are seeking work elsewhere. Other problems highlighted include the lack of employment opportunities for women in the area, the insufficient number of teachers in schools, understaffing in hospitals and government programmes that failed due a lack of relevance to life in the Jiu Valley.

The trade union leaders argued that ‘the amateurish reforms of the past 20 years turned an industry that used to secure tens of thousands of jobs into a ruin, and left over 200,000 inhabitants without any future’.

They added that people’s only hope now is to rely on the National Hard Coal Company Petroşani (Compania Naţională a Huilei Petroşani, CNH), one of the main employers in the county of Hunedoara where the Jiu Valley is situated. The survival of CNH is, in turn, contingent on government support.

Aim of talks

The inhabitants of the six mono-industrial towns in the Jiu Valley, all of which are dependent on coal mining, may have to rely on social aid schemes. However, according to the President of BNS, Dumitru Costin:

While social policies should be the fruit of political thinking, not the initiative of the civil society, our two trade union structures decided to bring together all the social actors that could contribute to the drafting and implementation of a concrete plan of action for the development of a business environment and public services capable of absorbing labour.

The purpose of the June roundtable talks, according to the trade unions, was to:

• identify business sectors with development potential in this area;

• assess the public service requirements of the local communities;

• make an inventory of alternative sources of finance;

• evaluate vocational training, re-qualifications and employment opportunities;

• integrate development projects prepared by public administration authorities with similar measures envisaged by companies and trade unions into a single, coherent programme.

Among those attending the talks held in Petroşani on 27 June were mayors, business persons, members of the government and parliament, trade union leaders, the press and other stakeholders of the Jiu Valley mining area.

Jiu Valley economy and infrastructure

At the talks, it was estimated that there are about 68,000 employees in the Jiu Valley, over 10,000 of whom are CNH workers. More than one third of total employment is found in private companies whose business is closely related to the CNH; the remaining employees work in local administration, education, research and health. Overall, about two thirds of the jobs are related to the mining industry.

At the same time, the area is facing a range of problems: three of the six towns in the region have been totally severed from the central heating network; the educational network, which includes the only mining engineering institute of academic level in Romania, is in disarray; and healthcare institutions are in severe need of upgrading. The Jiu Valley is also a low priority in terms of the road network, which renders tourism initiatives futile, although the picturesque region could be an attractive tourist destination.

Coal mined in the Jiu Valley contributes to 10% of Romania’s production of fossil-fuel energy. Moreover, the Jiu Valley is the only place with hard coal resources and a longstanding mining tradition for this type of coal.

Recovery initiatives

A brief glance at the list of arguments put forward by the trade unions and local social actors underlines how the Jiu Valley has the natural reserves it needs to develop, but lacks financial resources and coherent and well-targeted programmes. The participants of the Petroşani talks all agreed that the solutions must come from local initiatives, not from unrealistic plans.

To this end, a special committee was set up, comprising mayors, CNH management, leading local business people and trade union leaders. The committee has been assigned the task of finding ways to revive the economy and encourage social recovery in the Jiu Valley.

In addition, the BNS leaders announced that finance from the European Social Fund has been approved for projects seeking to revitalise the Jiu Valley and its economy.

Constantin Ciutacu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy