Epress.am News from Armenia
Today is the third day Electric Networks of Armenia LLC has been holding talks in an attempt to reach an agreement with 41 employees of its major consumers department that the electricity supplier has decided to abolish. Recall, management earlier announced these employees would be dismissed; however, after a public protest, management entered into talks with employees. The tripartite discussions involve employees of the department, management, and the trade union.
One of the department's employees, David Hasratyan, in conversation with Epress.am, said though talks have not yet yielded results, they haven't lost hope, since the decision to dismiss the employees hasn't been officially made yet.
"We are concerned only about not losing our jobs, for 41 people not to be unemployed. Whether that will be done by keeping the department or giving us work in other departments is secondary for us. We're just surprised that there's an attempt to shut down our department, as we have the highest [performance] indicators. Probably there are personal issues, I don't know," he said.
Department staff believe they are wrongfully dismissed as the decision to dismiss was made without a decision by the board of directors of the Moscow-based Inter RAO UES, which owns Electric Networks of Armenia.
"We are very determined, and if necessary, we will also turn to the courts in order to keep our jobs," said Hasratyan, adding that he has information that new cuts are expected at the Electric Networks of Armenia in early 2014.