Public servants will go on general strike starting with September 27. Beginning with this date, approximately 34,000 public workers in the National Union of Public Servants are expected to go on strike indefinitely, demanding that they are paid the salaries they received before the 25 percent cut, a halt in lay-offs and legal protection for public workers. Thus, the strike may paralyze activity in 350 public institutions in the central and local administration.
The National Federation of Unions in the Administration may also join in this strike.
The number of public servants paid from the state budget has been continually decreasing since the beginning of last year to this date, as stated by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
The strongest decline in the number of public workers was in June, when 6,200 people were laid off, but this trend also continued into July, when the number of public workers declined with 2,600 in the health system, 2,400 in the education system and 1,200 in the public administration system.
The government committed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that, by the end of this year, it will have lade redundant 74,000 public servants and another 15,000 in 2011.
However, in spite of Romania’s struggle with high public expenses, the decline in personnel in these particular areas may not be auspicious, since health and education are among the most problem-ridden sectors, confronted with low salaries and personnel depletion. Trust in the education and health systems has been declining constantly, following several large-span scandals.
Otilia Haraga