The employees of the regional statistics office of Alba, dissatisfied with the discriminatory pay, announced that today they will strike “hotly” all day.

A statistician works at a computerPhoto: Sorapop Udomsri / Panthermedia / Profimedia

This form of protest is the result of political actors ignoring the signals sent by statistics in recent years, and is only a warning to workers in the context of the 2024 election year, when without the contribution of the INS, elections cannot be organized, the agency said in a statement.

During the normal duration of the working day, staff will analyze methodological notes of surveys and statistical studies, they will perform comparative data analysis, they will perform documentation and statistical analysis, and if time permits, other activities (data collection, validation and questionnaire implementation).

Statisticians also note that the GEO project, published on the website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity, which provides for salary increases only for employees of units subordinate to this ministry, in the Reference Note provides: “the need to observe the constitutional principle of equality before the law in the sense that the maximum level of basic wages should be the same for all employees who have the same working conditions, regardless of the institution and state body in which they perform their activities.”

Our salaries are lower than in institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity. Our salaries have not changed for more than 5 years, the inflation rate in the last 5 years has exceeded 40%, and our purchasing power has decreased significantly, this is also stated in the press release of Alba statisticians.

Their complaints concern:

  • Non-application of the Memorandum adopted by the Government of Romania on 13.07.2022 regarding “Solving existing problems with wages at the level of regional and county statistics offices˶.
  • No salary increase for DRS Alba staff, unlike other public institutions. During 5 years, the employee with the maximum working experience of DRS Alba received a salary increase of 14 gross lei (7 lei net), during which the inflation rate exceeded 40%.
  • Failure to provide a 15% increase to the basic salary for the complexity of work, unlike employees of other institutions subordinated, coordinated or subordinated to the Ministry of State Finance, the Ministry of Labor and Social Justice, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of National Education, etc.
  • Failure to give due importance to the activities of territorial statistical offices, since statistical information is important both for knowledge of economic and social developments, and for the justification of decisions and action programs at the European, national and/or territorial levels, as well as for scientific research and research or for correct informing all categories of users. Let’s not forget statistical surveys of national importance, such as population and housing censuses and agricultural censuses.

Claims of DRS Alba employees:

  • 1. Establishing the basic salary of civil servants with executive and managerial functions, as well as contract staff in DRS Alba at the level of the central state administration.
  • 2. Provision of a 15% bonus to the official salary for the complexity of the work to civil servants and contractors as part of DRS Alba.
  • 3. Increasing the personnel scheme of the Alba DRS in accordance with the scope of activity and unlocking employment.