 Although the PM promised that he would submit a bill on Tuesday meant to do away with salary gaps in the state-owned sector, trade unions stick to their position and will not give up the protests they have scheduled. Therefore, as of Monday, teachers, members of three of the four big education trade union federations in Romania, will no longer register students’ grades. They have made this decision to protest against the drop in incomes after the enforcement of the unified payment scheme law in the budgetary system, and against the elimination of 15 thousand teaching jobs.
Protesters are discontent with the authorities’ failure to observe laws and court rulings, and are asking for the payment of the salary payments they were due, which they obtained in court. Also, at local level, all along the week, teachers will carry on with their rallies and marches and will continue to picket public institutions. On March 25th, all education trade union federations will hold a rally and a protest march in Bucharest. On the same day there will be no classes taught in schools. Teachers threaten that they will take to the streets daily in the coming two months, and if their claims are not met, in June they will go on an all-out strike for an unlimited period of time.
“Anti-crisis measures are boycotted by teachers” writes the daily newspaper ADEVARUL, which remarks that in Romania, the teachers, although hit by anti-crisis solutions, which are actually milder as compared to the measures taken in other European countries, threaten to freeze the school year. But teachers are not the only ones to show discontent. Tuesday is the day when farmers will take to the streets. Several hundred members of the Agrostar Federation will picket the ministries of Agriculture and Finance to ask for the payment of subsidies due, for diesel fuel prices to be brought down, and the reduction of the VAT rate for farming products.
On Thursday, the Education Ministry will also be picketed by the members of the Trade Union Federation of Research and Design Workers. They are asking for a separate budget for research and for the consolidation of research institutions into fewer units to stop. On the other hand, 800 teachers with the Babes Bolyai University in Cluj have signed a statement in which they draw attention to the fact that the new education bill violates the principle of university autonomy.
Teachers also accuse the authorities of marginalizing scientific research, and say that the new methods used for the election of rectors would allow for political interference in academic life. In their opinion, the education bill is an attempt by several groups to fraudulently gain control of university boards.
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2025-04-03
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