Trade unions organise major protest against poor living standards

In May 2006, three of the five national trade union confederations in Romania staged a protest in Bucharest against the country’s poor living standards. The main demands of the trade unions focused on: wages, employment and social policies; policies relating to industry and public utilities; and the legal framework of industrial relations.

On 24 May 2006, three national trade union confederations – the National Trade Union Confederation Cartel Alfa (Confederatia Nationala Sindicala Cartel Alfa, Cartel Alfa), the National Trade Union Bloc (Blocul National Sindical, BNS), and the Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions in Romania (Confederatia Sindicatelor Democratice din România, CSDR) – staged a larghescale protest in Bucharest, blocking the city centre for several hours. Media reports estimated that some 15,000 to 20,000 people took part in the protest to highlight the country’s disturbingly low living standards. The protesters were joined by several hundred members of pensioners’ associations.

The protest meeting was the outcome of previous demands made by trade union confederations, and followed a meeting organised by the National Confederation of the Free Trade Union Fraternity of Romania (Confederatia Nationala a Sindicatelor Libere din România Fratia, CNSLR Fratia), another national level trade union confederation.

Trade union demands

On 8 May 2006, Cartel Alfa, BNS and CSDR announced that they were to hold a large protest meeting in Bucharest on 24 May. In a joint declaration, the three national trade union confederations outlined their reasons for the concerted action: ‘Miserly wages, huge discrepancy between pensions and current prices, constantly growing public utilities costs, more often than not without any economic justification, but which each time, without fail, bring about a chain reaction of increased prices of the bare essentials, the loss of thousands of jobs, a healthcare system on the verge of collapse, all of which have turned the life of ordinary citizens in Romania into an absolute nightmare.’

The trade union confederations’ demands concern the following key areas.

• Wage policies – the immediate introduction of a minimum wage growth mechanism, increasing the minimum wage to about RON 637 (€180) by 2007, compared with the current minimum wage of approximately RON 372 (€105); setting the minimum–average wage ratio to at least 50% (compared with the current ratio of about 33%) within the same timeframe; and setting the average wage level to RON 1,200 (about €340), which would mean a minimum wage of approximately RON 600 (about €170).

• Public utilities – ensuring the transparency of gas, electricity, heating, water and fuel costs to eliminate unjustified profits in price increases and granting compensation for price increases.

• Employment policies – increasing the number of jobs by encouraging greater investment and economic development; a more diverse and enhanced quality of services; and a better vocational training framework that correlates with economic demands.

• Industrial policies – greater investment in sectors with development potential; support for sectors facing unfair competition in the market (especially textiles and clothing, furniture and wood processing); modernisation of agriculture and related industries; and greater support for and investment in scientific research and technology development.

• Industrial relations – a regulatory framework that is aligned with the country’s Labour Code and to EU directives; amendment of the collective agreements legislation and the law on settling work disputes; the establishment of labour tribunals; and improving the regulatory framework for social dialogue.

• Social policies – increasing pensions; eliminating privileges for certain categories of pensioners; applying the regulatory and institutional framework for occupational accidents and diseases; and providing the financial resources for access to free or subsidised healthcare.

Reactions

On 22 May 2006, before the scheduled protest action took place, government representatives and the trade unions had devised a calendar for future negotiations. Although the prime minister proposed that the trade union confederations should postpone the meeting in order to begin working group negotiations, the trade unions did not call off the protest.

The first concrete sign of a government response in relation to the trade union confederations’ demands was its announcement that – together with the trade unions and employer organisations – it would establish a set of criteria for calculating the national minimum wage during July 2006.

Luminita Chivu, Institute of National Economy