Romanian Public Servants Go On Warning Strike

According to the president of the National Public Servants’ Union, Sebastian Oprescu, public servants affiliated with the SNFP, who work in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or in contracts with public administrations, will be on a warning strike Monday morning. A general strike, which will last indefinitely, is planned to start on March 9.

 

Oprescu stated that over 3,000 public servants from other unions have declared their solidarity with the actions of SNFP. “We expect the Romanian Government to turn their attention towards the problems in public administration, following this strike,” he said.

 

The protesters demand the payment of their due wages, including overtime and bonuses for harmful working conditions, judicial protection of clerks in control institutions and the start of negotiations on the field’s Collective labor contract.

 

“The inferior financing of public administration, the lack of judicial protection of public servants during economic crisis, when the behavior of certain economic agents or criminal groups can be negatively influenced by socio-economic facts, will have a negative effect on the state budget and even on law and order. Through a substandard wage policy, the Romanian Government is to blame for corruption,” said the SNFP president.

 

SNFP representatives have been invited Monday at the Government headquarters to talk about the employees who are facing dismissal. Oprescu said he will ask the Government to appoint them to other positions or to pay them severance in the amount of ten salaries, defending this proposal on the grounds that “we are in an economic crisis and these people cannot find new jobs.”

 

SNFP representatives have withdrawn from the talks, claiming that behind them “normative acts are being prepared which do not take the negotiations into account, but diminish the incomes of administration employees significantly.”

 

The public servants’ union met Friday with a commission led by Bogdan Chiritoiu, the state liaison between the Presidency and the public administration. Union members were unhappy with the result of the debates on the act which would cut bonuses and overtime compensation, and considered taking the Government to court.