Gas, Collective Bargaining, Economic Policy, Romania

The Cartel-Alfa trade union confederation organised a series of rallies around the country from 17 October leading up to a national demonstration in Bucharest on 20 October. The confederation is calling for action to tackle surging inflation and for increases to pay and pensions. The actions were supported by EPSU affiliate Hipocrat which organises in the health sector.

The Publisind trade union federation organised a protest rally on 17 August outside the Ministry of Labour to highlight a range of issues relating to the pay and pensions of its members in prisons and police services. The union is angry that a key law on salaries has not been fully implemented and is calling for a 15% pay rise for prison and police staff. The union points out that its members were essential to the efforts to tackle the COVID pandemic with many staff working very long hours to try to maintain services in the face of staff shortages of around 25%.

On 5 July a group of 13 Romanian trade unionists arrived in Brussels after a four-day rolling protest from Bucharest over the low wages that force many of their fellow citizens to make similar journeys to find decent work. The “Caravan of Social Rights” stopped in Budapest, Vienna, Munich and Luxembourg along the way to stage protests outside Romanian embassies with the support of local trade unions. GDP per capita in Romania is now 72% of the EU average, but Romanian workers’ pay is just 28% of the EU average and the minimum wage is just €281 a month when the cost of living is €572 a month

The Sanitas health trade union has managed to negotiate a collective agreement in the sector despite the strict representative rules that make it extremely difficult to negotiate sector deals in Romania. The agreement confirms many of the rights the union has won over the years and ensures that they apply uniformly across the country. Among the most important elements are holiday entitlement (21-30 days depending on length of service), the role of the trade union in personnel policy, collective redundancies and disciplinary procedures and measures to support nurses' further education and

The Federation of Trade Unions Gaz Romania (FSGR) has said it may resort to strike action if the ENGIE energy company doesn't respond to its demands on pay. The union argues that the employers have failed to come up with a reasonable offer and also to provide information needed for the negotiations. The union has been in contact with the Labour Inspectorate to help put pressure on the company to provide the requested data and it hasn't ruled out possible legal action to be accompanied by protests and strikes.

Health union representatives met with the government on 2 May following a well-supported rally on 26 April. The government has promised to tackle some of the pay and bonus problems identified by health unions but has yet to come up with concrete written proposals. Health union Sanitas wants the government to lift the 30% limit on bonuses and to increase pay for all workers in health and social services. It also wants to negotiate collective agreements in the two sectors. Unless the government addresses these issues the union is planning a two-hour warning strike on 7 May and a national one-day

Following its initial protests in March, the Sanitas health union is planning further action to put pressure on the government over pay and bonuses. A national rally is planned for 26 April and a two-hour warning strike will take place on 7 May followed by a full national strike across the health and social service sectors on 11 May. The union is protesting over the new pay system that hasn't delivered pay increases for all workers. The union also wants a general pay rise, an end to the cap on bonuses, compensation for pay lost to increase social contributions and the right to negotiate

The Sanitas health trade union is asking members to sign up on its website if they support strike action over bonuses, pay and other issues. The union is reacting to Ministry of Health proposals that would impose a cap on bonuses and restrict bonuses for working conditions for technical and administrative staff. The union is also very concerned about proposals to shift social contributions from employers to employees that would effectively wipe out any agreed pay increases. Sanitas also wants action to ensure fair pay levels for different occupations.