Workers at Lithuania’s nitrogen fertiliser plant Achema are initiating fresh negotiations for higher pay after failing to sign a two-year collective agreement with their employer in 2022, which led to a brief strike, according to the trade union.
“We’ve essentially put forward demands solely related to wage increases, because when we get involved in long-term talks covering many points, the employer drags them out, and we can’t reach decisions. So we’ve decided to negotiate on just three points related to higher pay,” the union’s chairwoman Birutė Daškevičienė told BNS on Wednesday.
Daškevičienė believes higher wages could help stem the flight of employees from Achema. The union is proposing that wages be tied to the average salary with a coefficient of 1.3.
The union leader said that wages increased by 20 percent in 2022, when the strike took place, but dropped by 13 percent in 2023. This year, salaries have only risen thanks to overtime work.
According to Rekvizitai.lt, the average pre-tax salary at Achema is 2,544 euros, up 7 percent from a year ago.
Daškevičienė said she has already informed the company’s management about the initiation of negotiations and is waiting for their response.
Some Achema employees went on an indefinite strike on February 8, 2022, demanding a two-year collective agreement covering wages and other conditions.
However, the strike was suspended on February 24 after Lithuania declared a state of emergency due to the war in Ukraine.
Achema, which is based in the central Lithuanian town of Jonava and owned by Achema Group, currently employs 1,138 people, 3 percent fewer than a year ago, based on data from the state social insurance fund Sodra.
Achema Group posted consolidated losses of 17.05 million euros for 2023. It reported net profits of 73.07 million euros for 2022, from which it paid 24.358 million euros in dividends to shareholders last year.
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