Trade unions protest against suspension of employee gift vouchers
On 25 March 2008, by way of an emergency ordinance, the Government of Romania (Guvernul României) suspended the gift vouchers for employees from all organisations funded from the state budget, the state social security budget, and the local budgets. The ordinance was met with instant opposition from the teaching staff of Bucharest, who staged a token strike (with no work stoppage, and with workers wearing arm bands) and threatened to continue with protest marches, rallies, and a general strike. On 15 April, the government issued another emergency ordinance, to cancel the article that triggered the protest, and to allow further allocation of gift vouchers from existing budgetary funds.
Suspension of gift vouchers
Seeking to ensure a better use of public funds and to spare the budget from the overspending temptations of an election year, the Romanian Government (Guvernul României) passed, on 25 March, Emergency Ordinance no. 37/2008, on the regulation of certain financial matters.
Under the ordinance, in 2008, all organisations funded from the state budget, the state social security budget, and the local budgets were forbidden to purchase items such as property, cars, furniture and telecom devices.
Article 24 of the ordinance bans the allocation by such organisations of gift vouchers for their employees.
The vouchers had been approved under Law no. 193/2006 as gifts for red-letter days such as 1 March (spring celebration, specific for Romania only), 1 May, 15 September, Easter and Christmas. Therefore, the government’s decision, taken only two weeks ahead of Orthodox Easter took by surprise both the management of such organisations and the trade unions, which had not been informed.
To further complicate matters some public organisations had already dispensed the gift vouchers to their employees, on the occasion of Catholic Easter, always celebrated before Orthodox Easter, this year five weeks ahead.
Trade union reaction
Although the suspension of the gift vouchers applied to all public-funded sectors (such as health, education, and central and local public administration), it was only the teachers who reacted promptly.
In a letter to the Prime Minister (Primul ministru), the leaders of the Trade Union Federation of National Education (Federaţia Educaţiei Naţionale, FEN), the Federation of Education Free Trade Unions (Federaţia Sindicatelor Libere din Învăţământ, FSLI), and the Spiru Haret Education Trade Unions Federation (Federaţia Sindicatelor din Învăţământ Spiru Haret, FSSIH) pointed out that the government’s decision to ban gift vouchers as of that date generated religious discrimination between Catholics, who had already received theirs, and Orthodox believers (over 85% of Romania’s population).
The trade unions leaders also blame the government for the publication of the ordinance in the country’s Official Gazette (Monitorul Oficial) as late as 8 April in order to ‘avoid any disturbances during the summit meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), held in Bucharest on 2 – 4 April.’
The letter demands that article 24 be simply struck off the text of the ordinance, cautioning that a supplementary government resolution, as the minister of finance suggested, ‘would create further confusion.’
The protest letter was followed by a token strike (with no work stoppage, and with workers wearing arm bands), carried out by teachers on 10 April, who promised to support this with protest marches and meetings all over the country, culminating in a large rally in Bucharest on 16 April. Reference was also made to the possibility of a general strike in education sector.
Government’s reaction
Following pressure from the trade unions, and even from some of his liberal colleagues, the prime minister performed a U-turn, stating that ‘gift vouchers are, as a matter of fact, sanctioned by the State Budget Law for 2008, and, therefore, do not overburden the budget for this year.’
To settle the matter, the Romanian Government (Guvernul României) passed, on 16 April, a new emergency ordinance recognising the public-funded organisations’ right to dispense gift vouchers to their employees.
The government’s spokesperson justified this new piece of regulation by the ‘wish to avoid any discrimination caused by abolishing the gift vouchers, considering the fact that the budgetary funds to cover them for the year 2008 had already been provided.’
Commentary
Both the reactions of the trade unions and the response of the government reveal, in essence, a lack of communication and a malfunctioning social dialogue. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the Economic and Social Council (Consiliul Economic şi Social, CES), the tripartite body of social dialogue at national level, to get involved in the settlement of this issue.
Luminita Chivu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy