Romanian doctors threaten to join fall of protests

Romanian doctors will stage street protests and a general strike unless the Government begins to address their demands for wage increases and healthcare reform.

From September 18 until the end of the month, doctors will stage daily rallies outside the health and finance ministries if the Government fails to respond to their demands.

A general strike in November will follow should the inaction continue, as will

mass resignations and the canceling of contracts between family doctors and the health insurance house, doctors have warned.

The doctors' main complaint relates to their low salaries and among their requests is allotting at least 6 percent of the GDP to healthcare, doubling salaries, as well as enforcing legislation to provide professional independence to doctors, allowing them to work in both the public and the private systems. If the doctors' union representatives are not called in for salary negotiations, a bigger protest will be organized. The doctors' announcement comes after employees of the public transport company in Bucharest RATB and the metro company Metrorex both announced protests this fall. This month has also seen a series of street protests across the country against the Rosia Montana gold mining project. On top of that, demonstrations for and against stray dog euthanasia have been organized in recent days in Bucharest as well. editor@romania-insider.com