June 12, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 12.06.2023, 13:55

Strike. Trade unions in education have decided
to call off the general strike in the undergraduate system. Trade unions
leaders made this decision after consulting with their regional colleagues. As a
condition, they demand, however, that the government issues an emergency order
stipulating that the basic salary of a beginner teacher is the average salary
in the economy. They also want the first tranche of pay rises, namely 50% of
the increase provided for under the new salary law. The government’s latest
proposal was an increase of some 260 euros as of this month for teachers and
some 80 euros for the non-teaching staff. From 1st January next
year, salaries will increase based on the new salary law for public employees
in two stages, by 50% in 2024 and the rest in 2025. The government also proposed
an allowance of around 300 euros for teachers and some 100 euros for the
non-teaching staff to be granted from this year until 2017 on 5th
October, on International Day of Education.

Government. The Liberal prime minister Nicolae Ciucă is today expected to step down. According to a planned
rotation, the leader of the Social Democratic Party is to take over as prime
minister. The coalition parties are yet to agree on the make-up of the new
government, but they did agree to reduce the number of ministries from 20 to 18
by merging the entrepreneurship and tourism ministry into the ministry of the
economy and the ministry of sports into the ministry for family. Nicolae Ciucă
was due to step down at the end of May but the move has been postponed a number
of times over tensions generated by the teachers’ strike that has lasted more
than three weeks.

Jobs.
The most popular jobs in Romania are those in areas resistant to crises, such
as sales, accounting, engineering, IT and production, according to a survey
conducted by a recruitment firm. People are also interested in jobs where
salaries are explicitly stated in the hiring ad. According to the survey, construction, IT and
telecommunications, as well as medicine, have attracted an increasing number of
candidates in the last three years, being a solid and sustainable source of
well-paid jobs.

NATO. The biggest NATO air defence exercise gets
under way today. Led by Germany, it aims to show the unity of NATO members in
the face of potential threats, especially Russia, France France news agency
reports. Air Defender 23 is taking place until 23rd June and brings
together around 250 military aircraft from 25 different NATO member and partner
states, including Japan and Sweden, the latter a NATO candidate country. Up to
10,000 persons are taking part in this exercise meant to consolidate
interoperability and protection against drones and cruise missiles in the event
of an attack on cities, airports and ports on NATO territories. The exercise
was designed in 2018, partly in response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean
peninsula in 2014, although it does not specifically target anyone, said Lieutenant General Ingo
Gerhartz, Chief German Air Force. The manoeuvres include operational and
tactical preparation, mainly in Germany, as well as the Czech Republic, Estonia
and Latvia.

Berlusconi.
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi died this morning, aged 86. One
of the most influential Italian politicians in recent decades, he led the Forza
Italia party and served as prime minister three times, between 1994 and 1995,
between 2001 and 2006 and between 2008 and 2011. He was also known as president
of AC Milan football club, the winner of 5 Champions League titles. Berlusconi
was also a wealthy media mogul. His final years in power were plagued by
corruption allegations. In 2013, he was convicted for fraud and sentenced to
community time. He returned to power as part of Giorgia Meloni’s coalition, but
did not have a role in the government. (CM)