Romanian healthcare workers to initiate Japanese strike, protest in Bucharest

Unionized healthcare workers in Romania initiated a Japanese strike on Wednesday, June 7, in public health and social assistance institutions. The strike will not interrupt normal activities. A rally will also be organized in Bucharest.

Strikers wear armbands or badges with the emblem of the union, the Sanitas Federation.

The Japanese strike will take place throughout the negotiation period until the union workers' demands are resolved. Sanitas representatives specify that if the negotiations fail, the National Council of the Federation will decide to continue striking according to an action calendar.

The strikers’ demands include unblocking positions in the public healthcare system; full implementation of Law No. 153/2017 for all employees in the healthcare system; providing base salaries according to the salary grid for all employees; calculating all bonuses based on the current salary; calculating the hourly rate for shifts based on the current salary; and calculating the meal allowance based on the current minimum gross national salary, according to G4Media.

Furthermore, unions in the healthcare sector request a resumption of discussions on the Salary Law project. They ask that the principles established within the working group at the Ministry of Health are respected and that each employee is provided with predictable income growth. They also ask for a fair hierarchy of salaries.

Additionally, the union organization asks for proper and sufficient funding for healthcare institutions and an immediate resumption of negotiations for the signing of the Collective Labor Agreement at the budgetary level in the health sector. Funding for vacation vouchers, and ensuring the maintenance of jobs for personnel employed in medical units within the CFR network even after their transfer to other authorities are also demanded. Other requests aim to unblock positions in the social assistance system.

Another union, the Solidarity in Healthcare Federation, Federation is organizing a protest in Bucharest on Thursday, with a rally scheduled in Victoriei Square. Thousands will take to the streets and march through the city.

"The Solidarity in Healthcare Federation believes that the solution to reducing the dissatisfaction level among healthcare employees lies in restoring their trust in the commitments made by politicians, both within the framework of salary legislation and in the negotiations with representative trade unions,” said union representatives cited by