Romanian Healthcare Employees Demand Higher Wages, Threaten General Strike

Members of Romania’s Sanitas Federation threaten to stage protests in capital city Bucharest on Nov 4 and a general strike on Nov 20, considering that health minister Eugen Nicolaescu went aboard although they had to meet Tuesday and discuss potential wage hikes for employees in the healthcare system.

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Sanitas president Marius Petcu said Tuesday that neither Nicolaescu nor any state secretary attended the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, although the minister himself invited the unionists to debates.

According to Petcu, the unionists will hold a congress Friday and expect Nicolaescu to account for his absence and come up with solutions to the unionists’ demands, which mainly target a 50% wage hike.

Last Thursday, Sanitas representatives and Health Ministry officials agreed to set up a joint work group to debate issues targeting wage hikes. They also said a decision would be made in this respect after the budget law is approved.

Unionists must wait until Oct 24, when the budget law is likely to be approved, to find out whether their wages will be increased.

According to Petcu, the federation wants to sign an agreement with the government as a wage hike guarantee starting 2009, regardless of the structure of the future government.

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