Railway workers staged massive protests

The Romanian government passed an emergency ordinance extending current salary rules for state employees until the end of the year, which practically means that the wages in the budget system will remain at the same level until December 31, 2009. The ordinance was developed based on a re-assessment of macro-economic indicators through the budget rectification, the IMF loan agreement and adjusting the country’s deficit, ministry sources quoted by Mediafax said.
Prime Minister Emil Boc said at the end of Tuesday’s government session that the executive will be able to consider salary hikes for state employees only if it will have the necessary financial resources at its disposal, from money that it intends to save through various means, including through a re-structuring of government agencies.
Also, Boc said the budget rectification will not trigger a decrease in wages for any category of state employees. “I have said it since the beginning of talks about Romania’s foreign funding – the accord with the European Commission and the IMF does not affect basic wages and pensions. We will continue to pay these salaries and pensions, even in the current difficult context of the economic crisis. They will not be decreased and, to the extent in which we find financial resources from the savings we will make on central level first of all, we will find solutions to protect those with small incomes at this time of crisis,” Boc added.
In turn, Finance Minister Gheorghe Pogea denied speculation that teachers’ salaries would be lowered, but confirmed the fact that the expected 5 per cent increase would no longer be applied, according to Realitatea TV.
The opposition Liberal Party thinks however that the Boc government will bring the country on the brink of ruin and labeled the government’s activity so far “the worst performance after 1989”. “This outlaw-like system, let’s take from the rich and give to the poor, let’s ban any salaries bigger than (President Traian) Basescu’s 80 million (e.n. – old lei, the equivalent of RON 8,000), all these measures will bring nothing good,” former Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said. PNL leader Calin Antonescu also commented on the government ordinance, during a show on Realitatea TV on Tuesday evening, saying that PM Boc “has a populist outburst” now and then. Antonescu also ironically said that Boc is probably hoping to console the people with low incomes, by taking measures to make sure higher salaries will not increase either.
The measures taken by the government triggered discontent among trade unionists as well, especially among education and railway workers. Education unionists threatened to start wide protests, underlining that a cut in the Education budget would lead to massive lay-offs and to a salary decrease of up to 20 per cent. Teachers were set to draw a schedule of protest actions yesterday and were more than likely to decide a boycott of this year’s national exams.
Sources quoted by Antena 3 said that education institutions across the country were notified about salary funds reductions or personnel cuts. Thus, according to a document sent out to all school inspectorates across the country, the state has enough funds for salaries until September.
Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu denied yesterday that teacher’s salaries would be decreased by 20 per cent. “I don’t know who launched this rumour, but it’s not true… there will be no cuts in salaries or bonuses and such a rumour launched by I don’t know who seems to mean only harm,” Andronescu said.
President Traian Basescu also commented on the matter: “If one does not accept the reality and thinks that a salary hike can still be granted, this is an error that cannot get a positive response from the government”. The head of state added that austerity measures are mandatory and unavoidable, “if you don’t want to get into a severe derailment”.
Over 6,000 railway workers staged a protest rally in front of the Ministry of Transportation yesterday. The rally was attended by CFR employees who were not on shift at the moment, so railway traffic was not upset in any way. According to Mediafax, the rally did not require traffic in the area to be closed down. Unionists moved from the ministry to Victoria Square, going through Calea Grivitei, Polizu Street, Buzesti Street and finally reaching the government building. Protestors were not allowed to remain in front of the executive’s building. The unionists’ march was led by a coffin.
In Victoria Square, protestors filed a memo containing their demands with the government. Unionists said the only way to rescue the Romanian Railway and to avoid lay-offs is to take to the street and even to trigger a general strike.
Transport Ministry representatives said they were surprised to see railway workers protesting, given that recently, the ministry sent CFR several options to make the company moiré efficient. The ministry officials denied plans to lay-off about 12,000 employees of the CFR, as protesters had claimed.

Source: Nine O'Clock