700 workers from Transylvania highway project told to hit the road

Bechtel, which is building the Transylvania highway, has announced it is dismissing 700 workers from the project due to uncertainty about this year’s highway financing and delayed payments from 2009, all adding up to a reduced work schedule.

The company said the measure had followed meetings with trade unions which failed to find a solution to avoid the collective layoffs. Those affected by the measure will receive compensatory payments amounting to two monthly salaries.

Around 1,200 people will be retained, a number the company has deemed significant considering that the work load for December 2009-April 2010 was not sufficient.

Work on the Transylvania highway, which will connect Brasov to Bors, started in 2004, based on a EUR 2.2 billion contract awarded to US company Bechtel. In 2005, the new government re-analyzed the contract awarded by the previous administration. The road is now due for completion in 2012, and works are currently in progress for the 25-kilometer sector between Gilau and Campia Turzii.

The Transylvania highway will connect Brasov to Oradea and the Hungarian border, on a 415 kilometer route.

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The US construction company had previously estimated it would employ 8,000 workers in 2010, when works

on the highway had been expected to peak.