All Romanian Public Sector Employees Demand 50% Wage Hikes, Threaten Street Actions

All Romanian public sector employees, except staff in the education system, said Friday they demand 50% wage hikes and they will start ample street protests and general strikes to last indefinitely, after the head of state passed a law hiking teachers’ wages.

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Public servants said they will stick to their planned protests and start a general strike on November 13, Sed Lex union leader Vasile Marica said.

"Basescu and the Parliament made the right decision. Now we’re keeping the Government under pressure,” Marica said.

Unionists in healthcare said they are sticking to their protest plans as well, and they are expecting the health minister’s wage hike offer by November 3.

Romanian president Traian Basescu approved on Friday a 50% wage hike for education system employees, a law that the government warned would jeopardize economic stability.

Early October, the Romanian Parliament adopted a 50% wage increase for education system employees. Following the decision, the Government contested the law at the Romanian Constitutional Court, but the Court decided the law was constitutional.

Mid-October, Tariceanu said such an increase cannot be supported financially and would trigger a major crisis in the Romanian economy.

Romanian analysts polled by Mediafax earlier in October said that, if the law goes through, the salary increase for education system employees would trigger an avalanche of wage hike requests from all other sectors, including the private one.

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