Romanian Unionists Set To Protest In May When Lawmakers Hold Vote On Pension Bill

Cartel Alfa head Bogdan Hossu on Monday said unionists have already set off procedures for the full-blown strike planned in May.

Hossu stressed that state authorities have failed to solve the three nagging problems they face, namely, the new unitary pension law, the unitary salary law in the public sector and the minimum guaranteed salary. He added that, although some progress has been made as regards the unitary pay law, unionists are still waiting for concrete results.

The National Administration Union Federation will protest outside the government building Thursday and will stage a full-blown strike on May 5.

The National Union of Public Workers will also go on strike in May, but union leader Sebastian Oprescu did not say the exact day the strike will be set up.

Cartel Alfa committee members met Monday to set the calendar of protests, disgruntled that no concrete solution has been found for the three aforementioned problems.

Unionists in the entire public sector have lately announced ample protests and strikes for May over the IMF-required unitary wage law, which cuts a series of bonuses public workers used to receive under collective work contracts and different wage laws.

Recession-hit Romania is relying on a financial aid package of nearly EUR20 million from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the World Bank and has pledged to drastically slash public spending.