The president of the Party of Regions Alexandr Kalinin will go on hunger strike to show his support for the employees of Moldova’s Railways who haven’t been paid salaries for over half a year.
In a press briefing at IPN, Alexandr Kalinin said the hunger strike will be staged in the Great National Assembly Square where he will pitch a tent in which he will stay uninterruptedly.
According to him, the candidates of the Party of Regions travel through the country and have meetings with voters. In one of these meetings, employees of Moldova’s Railways said that they haven’t been paid salaries during over half a year and they can no longer endure.
Alexandr Kalinin read a letter that was sent to him by employees of Moldova’s Railways. The letter says that they haven’t been paid salaries since this January. Nevertheless, they diligently fulfill their duties.
“Practically all the employees have families. Many have minor children. Almost all of them had to take out loans that they cannot repay now. The financial difficulties reached that level when we do not have money to feed the family, our children. It is also hard to pay the transport fare to get to work. We bank on your understanding of the situation, on your support and assistance in solving this problem,” reads the letter.
Several sheets of paper with signatures of the employee were attached to the letter.
According to the leader of the Party of Regions, the situation is very difficult. The employees of Moldova’s Railways were ready to mount protests in all the country’s regions in several days. This would have led to an economic collapse in the country and would have threatened the holding of the snap elections. Kalinin said he discussed with the initiative group and asked them to wait a little.
Alexandr Kalinin noted that to ensure convenience, he will make statements for the press in the central square of Chisinau each day at 10am.
