Pay Rises in the Romanian Education System

Starting December 1st, the entire staff in the Romanian education system will benefit from a 15% salary rise.

Mihai Pelin, 13.10.2015, 13:46

All employees in
the Romanian public education system will benefit from a 15% rise in their
salaries as of December 1st. However, even with this measure,
Romanian teachers’ salaries will still be some of the lowest at European level.
A recent study has shown that a teacher with 10 years seniority, in Bucharest,
has an average gross salary of 5,400 USD per year. It is, indeed, more than in
Kiev or Sofia, but way below the salary they would get in Budapest, Prague or
London. Following negotiations with the line trade unions, the Romanian
Education Minister, Sorin Cimpeanu, has given assurances that the rise is to be
approved under an emergency ordinance, this very month.

Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu:

Following the
previous pay rises, namely 10% for the teaching staff, 5% in March and 5% in
September, as well as the 12% increase benefiting the non-teaching staff as of
August this year, the Government has also agreed to another, 15% rise for the
entire staff in the education system, as of December 1st. In whole, the average pay rise at the end of
2015 will have stood at 26.7%.

Minister Cimpeanu says that the
latest pay rise in the public education system translates into 1.7 billion lei
from the state budget. The leader of the Federation of Free Trade Unions in
Romanian Education, Simion Hancescu, has talked about the level some salaries
in the pre-university system will reach.

Simion Hancescu: Right now, a
young teacher has a gross salary of 1,380 lei. 15% more would secure them a
gross income of 1,580 lei. The highest salary in the system is 3,5000
lei for a 1st grade teacher, over the age of 40. This is the
maximum one can get in the pre-university system.

This rise is the second major after
the one benefiting the medical staff, who on October 1st got a 25%
increase in their salaries, following a ruling of the High Court of Cassation
and Justice, saying that doctors are not allowed to get additional payments or
donations from patients. Consequently, the medical staff threatened with an all-out strike.

Employees in the medical
and education sectors are the first to benefit from higher salaries before the
coming into force of the new Salary Law. The framework bill on salaries for
employees in the public sector, which provides for rises in education,
administration and health-care, is to be debated during the current parliament
session.