Rumania - Romanian unions demand restoration of labour rights

In November 2015 various trade unions (among them the National Trade Union Petrom-Energy FNS Solidaritatea Metal – SMETAL; Federatia Sindicatelor Libere din Chimie Si Petrochimie FSLCP and Federatia Sindicala CRAIMODEX CRAIOVA - Secteur Textile) picketed in front of the Ministry of Labour in Bucharest to denounce the erosion of collective bargaining rights in the Romania. It was, in fact, under the pressing impulse of the international Monetary Fund that the Romanian government approved in 2011 the Law 62 on Social Dialogue. Such reform, approved without being discussed in Parliament as a sort of “emergency measure” in response to the crisis, completely abolished the right to strike at national level and made sector level bargaining virtually impossible. Following this anti-democratic reform, the situation worsened significantly for Romanian workers: many local unions have lost representative status, and therefore there has been a massive decline in the number of collective agreements signed by trade unions. Furthermore, in line with the reforms imposed by the Troika in the vast majority of southern European States, the legislation has also made it easier for employers to use non-standard employment contracts extending the maximum period for fixed-term employment from 24 to 36 months. The vast majority of the new jobs created happen to be precarious and employers have taken advantage of tax legislation to reduce the number of workers on open-ended contracts and replace them with the more flexible fixed-term contracts.

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