Romanian healthcare union Sanitas suspends general strike for negotiations
The Sanitas Federation, the main backer of the general strike in the Romanian healthcare sector, announced on Friday, July 31, that it will suspend the strike and resume negotiations regarding the new Wage Law. The strike lasted three days.
Sanitas representatives said that in the coming period, they will work for a “fairer, more coherent and more equitable” Wage Law. The organization added that negotiations will be conducted with “a political factor with legal decision-making power – either Parliament or a legitimately appointed government.”
Since May, Romania has been governed by an interim cabinet led by Ilie Bolojan. The Parliament, in turn, is on holiday until September 1.
“Today we can say with complete conviction: We succeeded! We were heard! We demonstrated that Sanitas is an organized, determined and united force. Our strike achieved a first objective: to make known the reality in the public healthcare system and in the social assistance system,” the organization said.
Union representatives also referred to the unblocking of nearly 7,000 positions meant to ease pressures in Romania's public hospitals.
“On July 29, the Sanitas Federation of Romania achieved another victory: the Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment to the Health Law that allows the unblocking of vacant positions in healthcare, obviously within the limits of the approved budget. Also, the adoption of the Law on the remuneration of personnel paid from public funds was, at least, postponed,” it added.
Sanitas further said that unions from all public sectors, such as education, public administration, and others, are backing the negotiation of a new wage law.
While the strike is suspended, trade unionists will wear armbands. “We are not ending the strike, but giving politics a chance to reset itself and resume negotiations for a new wage law. In this way, we also reduce the pressure on the public healthcare system, on patients and on staff, out of respect and care for each of them,” the Sanitas announcement stated.
On Wednesday, July 29, another trade union in the healthcare sector, the “Solidaritate Sanitară” Federation of Romania, said, in opposition to Sanitas, that the draft law provides for salary increases for more than 50% of employees in the healthcare system. Similar to prime minister Ilie Bolojan, the organization said that there was a disinformation campaign targeting healthcare workers and seeking to turn them into “victims of a political battle.”
A day earlier, G4Media showed that in many hospitals in Romania, no employee had actually gone on strike, and in most of those where there were protests, participation was low.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)
