Reporters, editors, photojournalists, special correspondents and video journalists of AGERPRES risk a salary cut of up to 50% from July 1 due to a controversial interpretation of the Salary Act by the Accounting Chamber, MediaSind said in a press release.

“This measure will apply only to journalists and not to members of the board of directors, employees of the legal, personnel, financial, marketing, technical-administrative, printing department, etc., which will lead to obvious discrimination between AGERPRES employees, under such conditions, employees of these structures will have a much higher income, than a visiting editor,” the trade union says.

On May 3, 2023, MediaSind submitted a draft amendment to the AGERPRES law to address the situation.

“Then the leaders of the Governmental Coalition received the Justification and the GEO project on the amendment of Law No. 19/2003, a document which states that the salary of AGERPRES employees should be carried out under the same legal conditions as colleagues from Romania. Broadcasting Society and The Romanian Television Society, as well as other provisions that provide and confirm AGERPRES as a public service of national interest,” the quoted source said.

The union says the proposed solution does not involve additional funding.

“Therefore, the Federation of Culture and Mass Media FAIR-MediaSind, supported by the organizations to which it fully belongs – the CNSLR-Brotherhood Confederation, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Federation of Journalists, the International Federation of Musicians, the International Federation of Actors and the Global Union UNI – requests the Government of Romania to intervene urgently given the fact that several fellow correspondents from the head office have announced their intention to go on hunger strike in front of Victoria Palace and Cotroceny Palace,” the union said.

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