Over 150 Unionists Picket Fin Ministry HQ Monday, Call For Extended Furlough

Protesters are displaying banners reading "Stop layoffs," "We are jobless, you are thriving," and "Anti-crisis measures, not unemployment."

Union leader Ioana Stoica had a brief talk with Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu Monday morning and managed to present Vladescu in brief some of unemployment-related problems, among which, the fact that there are two different minimum wages, one for the private sector and one for the public sector. Vladescu assured all problems would be looked into.

Cartel Alfa unionists recently said one hundred people would picket the Finance Ministry building every day this week.

Cartel Alfa and employers' association UGIR-1903 have already asked Prime Minister Emil Boc to issue a government emergency decree extending the allowed period for furlough and also requested the decree be drafted in two weeks.

Cartel Alfa union leader Bogdan Hossu said last week the government spent RON300 million on furlough measures in 2009 and about one million people benefited from the measure.

Hossu said Romania would have had around 1.3 million jobless people last year if half of the people put on furlough had been laid off. Romania had 709,383 jobless people at the end of 2009, according to the national employment agency. The country's unemployment rose for the 17th consecutive month in December, and the jobless rate hit an almost six-year high at 7.8%, from 4.4% a year earlier.

The union leader also said the state could end up spending about RON500 million on unemployment in 2010, adding it would be cheaper to allow the extension of furlough and thus encourage companies to keep people employed.

In turn, Cezar Coraci, head of the UGIR-1903 industry employers' association, said he will also call on the prime minister to take further measures to ease the effects of the crisis, such as exempting companies from paying taxes if they hire people during the crisis period. He added Romanian industry does not show signs of recovery in 2010 and the sector has already slashed a record 365,000 jobs last year.

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