Estonian Railways to freeze wages, lay off over 150

Estonian state owned rail freight carrier Estonian Railways said that it has reached an agreement with the trade unions on freezing wages, writes Äripäev.

The company said that although it previously estimated that the company could lay off 300 workers, the actual number would not be higher than 157 plus some managers.

Speaking at Transestonia conference, board chairman Kaido Simmermann said that the company had laid off 25 percent of its workforce.

He added that the new employment contract act would cause problems for the company since all employees would have to work 8-hour workdays. Also, the fees for nighttime work and work on weekends will go up.

„There are problems also with the rest time regulation. Today, a locomotive drivers drives 6 hours to Narva and rests there for 4 hours. Under the new legislation he must have 12 hours of rest,” said Simmermann, adding that the company was negotiating with the trade union whether they can agree on the new system without increasing labour costs.

„Our transit trade volumes are not falling any more. Shipments of containers between Tallinn and Moscow are up 14 percent year on year”, said Simmermann.

According to the company’s annual report 2008, it has almost 2,000 employees.

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