Romania's lifeguards go on strike after two months of work, but no pay in another bureaucracy episode

Mid-summer season, around 400 lifeguards who work on the Romanian seaside have decided to go on a work-in strike, after not being paid for the last two months – since they started work this year.They will however continue to offer their support to tourists and save them from drowning. The lifeguards' salaries were not paid because of bureaucracy, according to Romanian media: the Constanta county sent in May the decision to allot some EUR 1 million for paying lifeguards and medical assistance on the country's beaches, but the document is yet to reach the Government for a decision. Young men and women who came from all over Romania had to support themselves while working 12 hours a day on the beach, saving people's lives for the last two months, and this is something that happens every year, according to local sources quoted by the media. A lifeguard makes around RON 1,500 a month (the equivalent of EUR 340). The president of the National Authority for Tourism Răzvan Filipescu said the papers for lifeguard payment approval were received from Constanta seaside county, but it was not the authority’s decision. Most likely the approval will come in August, after the budget correction, which would bring payment towards the end of the season, similarly to last year, when Romanian lifeguards also went on strike. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: LIfeguardtrainingacademy.com)