Chivu, Luminiţa
Controversy over civil service pay and conditions
03 augusti 2004
During 2004, Romanian civil servants - who have been allowed to join a trade
union only since 2003 - have been opposing government proposals for a new law
on civil service pay and seeking changes to the statute governing their
employment. In late June 2004, a protocol was signed by the two sides,
stating that the dispute will be solved through dialogue within a month and
that, for the first time, a national agreement will be concluded on civil
service pay and conditions.
National collective agreement put on hold
06 juli 2004
In May 2004, negotiations in Romania over a national collective agreement for
2004 broke down and the bargaining process has been put on hold. While 10 out
of 12 nationally representative employers’ organisations and four out of
five nationally representative trade union confederations agreed to sign a
draft accord, the Cartel Alfa union confederation refused to do so, as it
rejected the proposed increase in the national minimum wage.
Government launches mining restructuring strategy
03 juni 2004
In April 2004, the Romanian government adopted a restructuring strategy for
the mining sector for the 2004-10 period. It envisages that 48,000 jobs out
of 68,000 in the industry will be cut, accompanied by financial assistance,
job creation measures and retirement. Trade unions have given a muted
response to the strategy, with many miners already seeking to leave the
industry.
Pay disputes in education sector
10 maj 2004
Three trade union federations representing workers in the Romanian education
system started protest actions in April 2004. Their main demands are for
increases in salaries and a narrowing in pay differentials between different
categories of staff.
IMF and Romanian social partners hold talks
28 mars 2004
On a visit to Romania in February-March 2004, International Monetary Fund
(IMF) officials held informal consultations with nationally representative
trade unions’ confederations and employers’ organisations. The social
partners all expressed their support for a reduction in labour taxation,
while trade unions also called for an increase in the public deficit.
Although the government seems to be in favour of such demands, at present it
faces difficulties in accommodating a number of contrasting pressures.
Dispute hits mining industry
02 mars 2004
In February 2004, bargaining over a new collective agreement for the Romanian
mining industry resulted in trade unions organising a two-hour warning
strike. As well as demanding a pay increase much higher than offered by the
government, the unions also raised concerns about the perceived lack of a
sectoral strategy, large numbers of impending redundancies, and the
inconsistency of social assistance programmes. The government eventually gave
a favourable response to the majority of the union claims and a settlement
was reached. However, a government decision to split up the National Lignite
Company then sparked an indefinite strike in the industry.
Minimum wage issue threatens 'social stability pact' prospects
02 februari 2004
In October 2003, the Romanian government issued proposals for a tripartite
'social stability pact', covering 2004. By the end of 2003, after several
rounds of negotiations, the chances of the trade unions signing such a pact
seemed slim, mainly because of a government decision to set a minimum wage
rate far below that demanded by the unions.
Industrial relations in the automotive sector
08 december 2003
Automotive manufacturing has been considered an important sector of Romanian
industry over the past 30-40 years. However, in the last decade, industry as
a whole has undergone significant restructuring. From 1991 to 2002, the
number of employees diminished from about 3.4 million to 1.9 million (down by
45 %) and the number of companies increased from about 2,800 to over 45,000.
Over the same period, the number of enterprises in the automotive sector
increased from 39 to 376, while the number of employees fell from 125,000 to
about 83,000. The production of the automotive sector has also declined
significantly in the past decade. Production in 2002 compared with 1991 fell
from: 84,000 cars (town and off-road) to 66,000; 2,226 buses and vans to
seven; 75 trolleybuses to nine; and 7,592 trucks to 440.
Unrest over privatisation-related job losses
12 november 2003
On 2 October 2003, about 4,000 employees of Roman SA, a state-owned
truck-manufacturing company located in Braşov (one of the largest towns in
Romania) walked out while awaiting the results of negotiations at the
Authority for Privatisation and Management of State Ownership (Autoritatea
pentru Privatizare şi Administrarea Participaţiilor Statului, APAPS [1]) -
the highest administrative body for Romania's remaining state-owned
commercial companies - concerning the provisions of the contract for the
firm's forthcoming privatisation. It turned out that the buyer, Pesaka Asana
(M) Sdn Bhd, is going to take over only a part of the plant and will retain
only 800 employees, and 3,000 employees (out of 5,000) will thus be made
redundant, at least until a new industrial park is created at the site. The
announcement of the job losses brought swift reactions from trade union
representatives, who stated that they would hold protests until the issue was
resolved.
[1] http://www.apaps.ro/
Railway redundancies could lead to major strike
11 september 2003
In early August 2003, Miron Mitrea, the Minister of Transport, Construction
and Tourism, announced a restructuring of the national railway system,
stating that this would result in the redundancy of 19,000 employees of the
public rail companies by 30 September 2003. Trade unions reacted promptly,
considering unacceptable both the size of workforce reduction and the short
timescale for implementing it. They argued that a rail transport strategy
agreed by the government and social partners in 2001 provides that jobs are
to be cut over a 13-year period, following a major modernisation of
infrastructure.