Finance ministry’s employees protesting, including Treasuries

The protests of Finance employees, triggered a day ago, over anger at the expected tax changes, continue on Friday and have spread to several counties, where the treasuries are closed.

Finance Minister Marcel Boloş believes that the protest is justified from the point of view of wages, because they are with the “left behind” grids, but says that the draft ordinance on fiscal-budgetary measures does not affect those with low incomes. However, Boloș believes, it is “immoral” for employees with incomes over 20,000 lei to receive holiday and meal vouchers.

Today, the treasuries in the country should make more than 14,000 payments, and the Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloș, assures that the budget workers’ salaries will be paid.

According to trade unionists, on Friday, there will be protests in Ploiesti, Piatra-Neamţ, Satu Mare, Botoşani, Timisoara, Vrancea, Bacău, Craiova, Buzău, Iasi, Constanta, Galati, Teleorman or Botoşani.

The National Alliance of Budget Trade Unions “SED LEX” announces that 18,000 employees of the Treasury are protesting today throughout the country, in solidarity with Thursday’s protest from the Ministry of Finance: “Promises are no longer enough! The protests will continue in the absence of firm commitments!”.

Finance employees will continue the spontaneous protest launched on Thursday until the demands are resolved, among which is the equalization of salaries at the maximum level paid in each institution and distinct occupational family within the framework of the Salary Law, the Finance Family, Toader Nicolae-Liviu said the president of the National Union of Public Finances on Friday.

Asked on Friday if all state employees will receive their money today, given that some treasuries are closed, Minister Marcel Boloș replied: “16,300 payments will be made today. Over five billion lei will be the payments during the day.

Asked where the money would come from for the salary increases promised to those in Finance, Boloș said that “the impact is not so great as to put the state budget in difficulty: “On the other hand, everything that you now have is justified as forms of claim in terms of salary, because they are behind the salary scales and are the most important institution in Romania.”

Questioned what he will do if the protests spread throughout the country, the Minister of Finance said that a day ago he “made some commitments” and “the world should be patient”. “I came a month and a half ago and took over the leadership of this ministry. I can’t solve them overnight and I don’t think there are such claims to be solved overnight. I urge you to be calm and to have a little patience until I find a solution to your problems and claims”.

Marcel Boloş explained that the draft ordinance on fiscal-budgetary measures does not “in any way” affect those with low incomes. “As for executive positions, it was not discussed that someone should be fired, that someone should compete for an executive position. The heads of offices that will be dissolved will have an offer for executive public positions and after that the vacancies will be reduced. That is now, but the decision is at the level of the governing coalition (…) This ceiling or a limitation that you saw in the draft ordinance is not to affect those with low incomes. That would be crazy. It is for those who have a salary of 20,000 lei and we give them food allowances or vacation vouchers. At least this is immoral and I don’t think anyone supports such aberrations that happened in the system”, Marcel Boloş also conveyed.

The trade unionists demand the equalization of salaries at the maximum level in payment and the introduction of the finance occupational family into the salary law, with an appropriate salary grid.

The draft emergency ordinance prepared by the government contains provisions regarding:

• Limiting the increase of harmful conditions to 1000 lei
• The food allowance is no longer granted to those with a gross income over 10,000 lei
• Holiday vouchers are no longer granted to those with a gross income over 10,000 lei
• Cancellation of vacancies
• Abolition of the office and the position of head of office
• Personal Norms: 10 execution functions for service, 20 execution functions for direction, 40 execution functions for general direction. 

PM Ciolacu slams public employees with high salaries

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said, on Thursday evening, on Romania TV, that “it is obvious” that the budget system must be reformed, claiming that he is “the sucker on duty who undertakes this reform”, because Romania cannot lose European funds, being ” the last train to develop”. He also stated that he cannot “accept that the PSD pays the bill for what others have eaten, for what others have stolen in the fields”.

He further claimed that there will be no austerity, no increase in taxes and fees, only “fiscal adjustments”. Ciolacu spoke about the “numerous fiscal facilities of all kinds” that must be eliminated, but refused to name them, on the grounds that the fiscal measures that the Government will take are not yet clearly established.

The PSD premier also claimed that no salary will be cut in Romania, but that he no longer accepts “parallel institutions”, which have the same duties and do nothing, and that those who have higher salaries than the president of the country should receive vouchers and other benefits.

“But I can’t even accept you going to work, being the boss over some empty, vacant positions (…)    I cannot accept that a loan officer comes to his boss, to the director, to say that we have made extraordinary savings on the budget envelope. In fact, it didn’t make any savings, in fact, it didn’t hire. I cannot accept that a budget official who earns over 2,000 euros, I, Marcel Ciolacu, run him around the office to ask him to take the vacation vouchers. Holiday vouchers are for those with low incomes. There must be social equity (…). If you have more income than the country’s president and you’re a budget officer, aren’t you ashamed to keep reaching out to me, the Romanian state, to give you  holiday vouchers? And the package when you go to work? I gave you a driver, I gave you a secretary, you have everything, you are a director. But isn’t that a bit much? Someone has to come and say these things,” the prime minister added.