Romania
Last month a law was approved that would see public sector pay and pensions frozen in 2012. However, a government spokesman did not rule out the possibility of increases but these would depend on the performance of the economy.
Read more at > Nine O’Clock news website (EN)
At a meeting with the three main public service unions – CCOO, UGT and CSI-CSIF – the government has confirmed that pay developments in the public sector over the next three years will maintain the purchasing power of the 2.5 million workers covered by the central negotiations. Unions had been concerned about the possibility of the government imposing a pay freeze and are still worried about job cuts, urging the government to maintain staffing levels in order to ensure quality services. [Read more at > FSC-CCOO (ES)-> http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/menu.do?Inicio:64013] [Read more at FSP-UGT
A series of pay freezes have seen civil servants' salaries eroded by inflation since 2010. Pay is based on an index figure which was frozen between 2010 and 2016 and increased by only 0.6% in both 2016 and 2017 but frozen again this year. This means a loss of purchasing power of 6.79%. This translates into a monthly loss of pay of anything between EUR 117 and EUR 404 a month depending on the job. Increases in pensions contributions have meant a further cut in take-home pay. This is a longer term problem for civil servants as increases in the index point fell behind inflation in the period 2000
Public services union ABVAKABO has said that a government proposal that public sector workers’ pay should be frozen is unacceptable. The union points out that a statement from the joint union and employer Labour Foundation talks positively about negotiating agreements on pay, employment and training and that this is the way forward, with the aim of achieving pay claim covering workers in both public and private sectors. Read more at > ABVAKABO (NL)
