Tripartite social dialogue paves way for social and economic pact

Following a protest march by some 8,000 members of the National Trade Union Bloc, Romania’s labour minister invited employer organisations and trade unions to relaunch the social dialogue process. A proposal has been made for two working groups to be set up in order to discuss the amendment of the main legislation governing industrial relations. Moreover, the minister signalled his ministry’s readiness to sign a social and economic pact for 2009 with the social partners.

Trade union protest

In February 2009, the social partners agreed on an anti-crisis programme (RO0902039I) in light of the global economic downturn. Nevertheless, on 8 May, the National Trade Union Bloc (Blocul Naţional Sindical, BNS) issued a press release announcing a protest rally and march in Romania’s capital city Bucharest; the march was expected to gather some 10,000 trade union members. It was due to be held at the same time as the European Days of Action to ‘Fight the crisis: put the poeple first’, which were launched by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) (EU0906029I).

On 14 May, approximately 8,000 BNS members took part in the demonstration, representing nearly all economic sectors, including public administration, financial services, agriculture, defence and sporting. The protesters marched from outside the government buildings to the headquarters of the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection (Ministerul Muncii, Familiei şi Protecţiei Sociale, MMFPS).

Key demands of trade unions

A key demand of the trade union leaders, in the interest of greater job stability, are the introduction of programmes for the creation of new jobs, along with measures to maintain workers’ purchasing power. The trade unions also called for an increase in the minimum wage from RON 600 (about €142 as at 25 June 2009) to RON 800 (€190), and for instating more affordable prices for basic products and services, as well as the establishment of a more unitary social security system. Furthermore, the parties underlined the need to continue the reforms initiated in the energy, education and health sectors, which are still awaiting completion.

During the march, the protesters chanted slogans calling for the government’s resignation and for more proactive measures to address the economic crisis; they also displayed 8,000 red cards as a sign of protest. One of the trade union leaders warned:

If the rulers plan to ignore us, we shall step up our actions. We shall join forces with all the other national trade union confederations and start protests in all counties.

On the same day, at the end of the march, BNS President Dumitru Costin handed over a memorandum to MMFPS, following a discussion with the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Protection, Marian Sârbu, and the State Secretary for Social Dialogue, Marius Lazăr.

Government response

On 19 May, Minister Sârbu invited the national employer organisations and employee representatives to a meeting to relaunch social dialogue and to examine the proposals forwarded by BNS with regard to the creation of new jobs and the safeguarding of existing ones.

In order to make a financial assessment of the trade unions’ claims, the meeting was also attended by the Minister of Public Finance, Gheorghe Pogea.

The parties agreed to appoint two working groups with the following tasks:

• one group to draft proposals for the amendment of the collective agreements law, and of the labour dispute resolution law;

• the other group to draft the amendments for the trade unions’ and employer organisations’ laws.

Minister Sârbu believes that the amendments to the four laws will be ready by the end of 2009. Moreover, he announced that amendments would be introduced for the laws establishing the Economic and Social Council (Consiliul Economic şi Social, CES) and the Labour Inspection Office (Inspecţia Muncii, IM). The minister added that a ‘social and economic pact’ could be signed very soon, which trade union leaders deemed highly necessary in light of the difficulties forecast for 2009.

Mr Sârbu emphasised that the need to relaunch tripartite social dialogue and to establish a partnership between trade unions, employer organisations and the government requires that talks be continued in the immediate future. Meanwhile, bargaining on salary increases is set to be resumed in the second half of the year because, as the minister explained, the national economy could not sustain a rise in the minimum wage for the time being.

Commentary

Signing a tripartite pact for only half a year does not seem feasible, given that consensus is hard to reach at present. While an increase in the minimum wage was agreed in a tripartite agreement reached in 2008 and is still in effect (RO0808019I), it did not take into account the current economic crisis.

Under the latter agreement, the national minimum wage should have risen to 42% of the gross average salary in 2009, or from RON 600 (€142) to RON 730 (€173). However, such an increase would be difficult to realise considering that Romania’s gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 6.2% in the first quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, although amending the legislation governing industrial relations is welcomed, on its own the measure will not be able to generate the financial resources needed for the wage rises that the trade unions are demanding.

Constantin Ciutacu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy