On Thursday, thousands of members of the Sanitas Trade Union from
\nall over Romania gathered in Victoria Square, in front of the government
\nbuilding in Bucharest, to protest against a piece of legislation regulating
\npayment in the healthcare system. The protesters were carrying banners and
\nplacards and were blowing whistles to convey their message of discontent they
\nhad already expressed before through several spontaneous rallies but which
\nfailed to yield the desired result. We recall the talks the authorities held
\nwith union representatives and hospital managers ended in a deadlock. <\/p>\n
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Trade union representatives are angry at the authorities’ lack of
\nflexibility during the numerous round of talks in which they made known the
\nemployees’ discontent and fears regarding their shrinking incomes. Protesters
\nhave also denounced the authorities’ for what they say is an attempt to
\nobstinately prove the new regulations are good in spite of reality showing
\notherwise as well as the manipulative way in which the authorities are trying
\nto blame trade unions for the situation in the healthcare system. According to
\ntrade unionists, the government is breaking the law as well as the elementary
\nrules of social dialogue. The protesters have signaled the sharp drops in their
\nincomes after the application of the new pay regulations and call for the elimination
\nof a cap on benefits, which, under the new legislation, cannot exceed 30% of
\nthe salary. <\/p>\n
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According to Leonard Barascu, the president of the Sanitas
\nFederation, Deputy Prime Minister Viorel Stefan has pledged that, as of May, no
\nmedical employee will receive less money:<\/p>\n
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We are going to be briefed on all the decisions made by the
\nmanagers in the committee set up by Prime Minister Dancila and on the talks
\nthey had with our representatives. We’ll make an assessment on May 2nd
\nin a bid to find solutions in order to get law 153 amended. <\/p>\n
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Although the authorities have pledged to find solutions, trade
\nunionists have announced fresh protests. In their opinion, no solution can be
\nfound without amendments to the pay law, which they have denounced in their protests
\nin front of the Romanian government. On the other hand, Health Minister Sorina
\nPintea has again said that protests aren’t a solution, recalling that hospital
\nmanagers can solve the issue with good management. In turn, Labour Minister Lia
\nOlguta Vasilescu has told a TV station that the pay law will not be amended
\nbecause the problem was caused by the cap on benefits. The Romanian official
\nhas added that talks on the benefit regulation are presently being held with
\nthe hospital managers who proved efficient in handling the issue. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of employees of Romanias healthcare system on Thursday mounted fresh protests outside the government building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":77299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[39305],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-77456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-healthcate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n