State employees' salaries are to drop 30% by the end of the year. Elsewhere in the news, Romania risks getting tied in a loan vicious circle in its effort to pay loan interests. Last but not least, hundreds of Romanians queue daily for the legally unemployed status.
The salaries for state employees will drop 30% by the end of the year, Evenimentul Zilei reads. The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) authorised the law addressing the restructure and reduction of public spending. The measure will only be enforced in November and December. The Government wants this measure to be translated into days of unpaid holiday.
The union leaders were surprised by the decision and doubt that it can be applied this month. The Court's decision from last night was previously scheduled for December 9. "The government cannot take, on its own, the decision to send state employees in an unpaid holiday without their approval or the union's consent. This is a serious breech of the Work Code and can expect thousands of trials to be won in court by state employees", the leader of the Cartel Alfa union Bogdan Hossu declared.
In departments such as Education or Health, a holiday is out of the question and alternatives should be also given. No matter the findings, state employees earning 600 lei per month, the minimum income, will see their salaries reduced by 200 lei. A holiday in the health system would put a lot of pressure on big emergency hospitals, who are overwhelmed anyway. In the education department, schools threaten to fill the vacant day with academic activity and say they will take the matter in the court. One proposal was to extend the budget cuts for the first two months of the following year as well.
Romania is getting a loan to pay the interests for the already existent credits, Gandul informs. The country might create the Debt Ministry
