The Kurum company reaches an agreement with the unions for a collective layoff

2024-08-28 22:05:00, Aktualitet CNA

In Albania, the Kurum company has reached an agreement with the unions for the collective layoff of 250 workers in two of its factories. The cuts became necessary, according to this agreement, due to the crisis in the industrial sector and the global economic situation. But in addition to the different positions on the event, there are also contradictory figures, because the government says that it is about 500 families and about a disturbing social issue, so it is following the situation closely.

The Kurum International company and union representatives say that they have reached an agreement on August 20 on a collective layoff, according to them, for no more than 250 employees of two plants, that of steel and rolling, for an indefinite period. but at least 90 days, while the rest will work no more than 22 days a month.

The Kurum International iron production company in Elbasan says that the global economic situation, the crisis in the industrial sector, as well as the performance of the steel industry in Europe and the world have affected its work for a year, which led to the stoppage of production at the plant. of Çelik on August 1 and that of Petezi on August 15.

These are also the reasons that brought, according to her, the collective layoff of employees in these two factories.

In the agreement signed by the union leaders of the two plants as well as the Federation of Industrial Employees' Unions with the representatives of the company, it is stated that the collective dismissal is due to necessary economic reasons, provided for in the Labor Code and in the Collective Contract.

The trade unionists claim that the company's difficulties have been known for a year and they were aware that this day of collective holidays would come, while they hope very much in the resumption of work as soon as possible after investments and overcoming the difficult situation.

"It's been 7 months since our talks continued and the employees were paid without going to work. 7 months. It's been a long time, that the company was not recovering itself", Taf Koleci, the general secretary of the Federation of Industrial Employees' Unions, says to the Voice of America.

Mr. Koleci, one of the signatories of the collective layoff agreement, told VOA that during the negotiations with society, everything was done to reduce the number of layoffs and their social consequences as much as possible.

"We have gone to talks with the company. There are a total of 680 employees in the Kurum company and only 250 will be cut, after the negotiations we have done with the company signed with a regular deed-agreement, according to the law, the Labor Code and the Collective Agreement", says Mr. Koleci.

According to the agreement, employment contracts will be concluded with employees employed in the last two years, with those who are in the last two years before retirement as well as with unqualified employees, and with the normal resumption of work, these dismissed employees will have priority to resume work.

"All the employees went voluntarily and signed, apart from the agreement that was made between the union and the company, their departure for a very short period", says Mr. Koleci.

The collective layoff of employees at two plants of the Kurum International company in Elbasan received special attention these days, also because it happened at a time with the announcements of irregular exports of about 100 containers of suspected hazardous waste, coming from the ashes of metallurgical chimneys from Albania to Asian countries.

But in an announcement two days ago, the Kurum company said that so far it has not made any collective dismissal from the work of its employees and that the interruption of steel and rolling production has nothing to do with the announcements in the media about the export of the claimed quantities as dangerous waste from an Albanian company, nor with the media attacks against it.

Meanwhile, it seems that the figures on vacations are contradictory. The unions talk about 250 cuts, while the government mentioned 500 layoffs today.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Belinda Balluku, emphasized today to the press that it is important to maintain a clear position on this issue, because it is about 500 Albanian families, people with contributions to the metallurgical industry, and that the government is analyzing it the situation, which happened only two days ago.

"We will continue to monitor the situation. KURUM will be obliged to provide appropriate explanations. This is a social issue, which exceeds the commercial, commercial issues that can be related to the agreements that KURUM has with the municipality of Elbasan, or even with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, as far as the Metallurgical territory is concerned. We have it in focus and in the coming days there will definitely be a communication on this issue, as it is a social issue that worries us a lot", said Mrs. Balluku.

The Labor Inspectorate is present at the Kurum to take a closer look at the condition of the workers and the fulfillment of their rights as well as working conditions.

On the other hand, the expert Edison Hoxha, from the Center for Labor Rights, CLR.AL, tells the Voice of America that the relations between employers and employees are exclusive and no third party can enter between them, when there is an agreement.

"The union and the employees there must be attentive to the internal developments of the company, while the company must be transparent and in negotiations and in constant discussion with the representatives of the union about the situation it is facing in its commercial activity. On the other hand, at the first moment that they will have a situation that can go towards improvement, then it will be these employees, who can potentially leave now, to be re-entered in their previous place of work", says Mr. Hoxha.

He added that if these employees, for whom it is impossible to dismiss them from work even temporarily, can be addressed by the union and the employer in the labor offices, in order to benefit from unemployment payments and benefit from professional retraining, and to be able to reintegrate in other companies with similar activity or in different sectors of the economy.

The company Kurum International is a producer of local and regional importance in the production of iron for construction, as well as an important employer for Elbasan.

It turns out that the Kurum company has secured satisfactory profits for 3 years, according to the records on the businesses of Open Corporates Albania, established the Albanian Institute of Sciences.

In 2022, Kurum was the third in the ranking of profitable companies, while the integrated data of Open Corporates Albania shows a company with good flows in annual turnover, assets and has been profitable for years./ Voa