Romanian public administration unions to go on strike because of payroll law

Unions in public administration have threatened to go on strike in front of the Parliament Palace in Bucharest on Wednesday, May 24, when the payroll law draft will be debated in the Chamber of Deputies’ Labor Committee. The employees in public administration are unhappy with the payroll law draft and the lack of a salary scale. More than 10,000 people could protest in Bucharest, said Sebastian Oprescu, president of the National Union of Civil Servants. According to the union leaders, all employees of city halls and the most of those working in county councils will go on strike on Wednesday, stopping the activity in the local public administration system. The senators in the Labor Committee adopted the payroll law draft on Thursday last week. The committee’s report includes certain amendments, such as salary increases for mayors and deputy mayors, as well as for employees in environment, integrity and tax agencies and the education sector. Labor minister Olguta Vasilescu said yesterday that the new payroll law’s impact could amount to RON 43 billion (EUR 9.4 billion) until 2022. Thousands of Finance Ministry employees protest in Romania against possible salary cuts editor@romania-insider.com