Cabinet resigns as social partners oppose austerity measures

Romania’s five national trade union confederations sent a second open letter to the prime minister at the beginning of 2012, refusing to attend the new National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue. Their protest at the government’s unilateral amendments to the Social Dialogue Act, and other austerity measures introduced without consultation, was followed in February by widespread public demonstrations, ending with the resignation of Prime Minister Emil Boc and his cabinet.

Background

On 21 September 2011, all five national trade union confederations signed a joint open letter to Prime Minister Emil Boc informing him they would withdraw from all social dialogue committees, and from the Economic and Social Council (CES). (RO1112019I).

The letter ended with the request that the National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue (CNTDS), established as an institution under the 2011 Social Dialogue Act, be convened as a matter of urgency, in order to examine matters ‘of the utmost importance’. These included the review of the Social Dialogue Act, ‘so that social dialogue could become a real instrument through which the social partners could exercise the rights recognised by law’. Unless these demands were met, the trade unions would continue to stand aside from all social dialogue structures.

As a result, the CNTDS was brought into being on 27 October 2011 and convened for the first time on 1 November 2011. At the meeting, Akos Derzi, the Minister of Labour, presented the social partners with a draft of the institution’s internal rules of order for the approval of those present.

At the second meeting, on 6 December 2011, the CNTDS discussed the minimum wage for 2012. The government offered to increase it from RON 670 (€153 as of 3 March 2012) to RON 700 (€160). The trade unions, however, demanded an increase to RON 1,030 (€235), in line with the figures agreed earlier in the ‘Tripartite agreement regarding the minimum wage during the period 2009-2013’ (RO0808019I). The government (GR) disregarded these arguments and issued its decision on 27 December 2011 that the minimum wage was to be RON 700 with effect from 1 January 2012.

A further meeting of the CNTDS was arranged for 17 January 2012.

A second open letter

In response, the five confederations sent a second open letter to the prime minister, refusing to attend the 17 January meeting, saying they were unhappy with the government’s ruling on the minimum wage.

This letter listed the recent government actions which had led the confederations to withdraw from social dialogue:

• the unilateral amendment of the Labour Code and other labour legislation in 2011, effectively abolishing the national unique collective agreement (RO1107029I), without consulting the social partners;

• the unacceptably low value of the minimum wage decreed for 2012, despite an agreement reached between all the social partners in 2008 setting out incremental increases for the following five years;

• the failure of the government to respond to collective redundancies in all economic sectors with concrete measures to generate new jobs;

• lack of job conservation policies, and the government’s refusal to extend ‘technical unemployment’ – a lay-off scheme subsidised by the State which makes it possible for businesses to close temporarily without making its workers redundant – to the years 2011 and 2012 (RO1002029I);

• the violation of the rights of workers and of their working conditions by the current Pension Act;

• attempts to restrict the right to strike.

The confederations demanded a meeting of the CES to update its internal rules of order to the tripartite structure;

The letter insisted that trade unions were ready to resume social dialogue if all of their concerns were adequately resolved, and if all the issues raised were scheduled for discussion at the CNTDS.

Employers support unions’ criticism of the government

The unions’ position was supported by the four national employer organisations that make up the Union of Independent Employer Confederations of Romania (PATROROM) (RO1112019I). They have also decided to boycott the CNTDS meeting and have announced their support of the trade unions’ position, describing the government as having a ‘total disregard for social dialogue’.

The CNTDS meeting went ahead without either of these social partners. The prime minister expressed his regret, and the minister of labour promised to ‘discuss with the trade unions, and hear their claims’.

Public protests

The austerity measures enforced by the government throughout 2010 and 2011, and without consultation with the social partners, led widespread public protests from 12 January 2012 onwards.

Protesters came from all social backgrounds and demonstrations continued throughout January in Bucharest, county capitals and big cities despite temperatures of up to 15C below zero.

Protesters chanted calls for the resignation of the Romanian Government and President Traian Băsescu, and demanded measures to redress the country’s economic and social situation.

From 12 January to 5 February no government official would talk to the protesters or national trade union confederations. The only sources of information were the media, particularly TV stations, which reported on what was happening in the street.

Then, on 6 February 2012, the prime minister and his entire cabinet resigned and the protests stopped. However, the disputed issues remain.

Constantin Ciutacu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy