Negotiations With Romanian Finance Minister Have Hit "Deadlock" – Union Leader

Marica said the minister refused to allow the bonuses, claiming his hands are tied. The union leader asked the protesters to stay and informed them that they would be provided water and sandwiches.

Hundreds of employees of the Finance Ministry and the Bucharest Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) staged a spontaneous protest Wednesday on the halls of the Ministry itself, declaring they have not received their bonuses, which form a significant part of their wages, in two months.

A meeting between the employees and ministry officials yielded no solution, so the protesters carried on, even beyond regular working hours. From Bucharest, the protest spread all over the country, as the employees of several county fiscal administration agencies went on strike.

The Government slashed the wages in the entire public sector by 25% this summer, as part of an anti-crisis program to reduce the budget deficit. Former Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu had promised his ministry's employees they would continue to receive bonuses until a new unitary wage law entered force, as these incentives' elimination would, in effect, mean their salaries would be cut by 60%.

Vladescu was replaced with Gheorghe Ialomitianu in September, with Prime Minister Emil Boc citing the former's plan to keep giving bonuses as one of the reasons.

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