This year alone, about 35 very good workers have left the statistics due to low wages, and the departures will continue if the government-prepared decree with fiscal measures comes into force, said Dan Iliescu, the union president in a discussion with HotNews.

The trade union of the National Institute of Statistics in Bucharest said in a statement on Wednesday that it completely disagrees with the proposed measures, as well as with the drastic and irrational way they are applied.

They propose abolishing subsidies for political parties, cutting the posts of secretaries of state and deputy secretaries of state by 50%, canceling housing and transport costs for them, and revaluing the non-essential purchases fund if the government wants money.

Dan Iliescu also says that the government passed a Memorandum last year, according to which the salaries of statistics workers were to be increased, but it was never implemented, being postponed from one correction to another. Several times, trade union activists took to the streets, demanding compliance with the provisions of the Memorandum, as well as the resignation of the head of Statistics, professor Tudorel Andrei.

Dan Iliescu also says that the fiscal resolution proposed by the government may even lead to the abolition of some district statistics offices, which are already overburdened by the accelerated reduction of human resources “to a humiliating and discriminatory remuneration fund compared to other professional categories”.

The press release sent on Wednesday also speaks to the degree of complexity of work at the INS even at the local level, where along with the complexity of data collection there is also the problem of producing territorial statistics in an environment where statistical expertise must be maintained at the highest level.

“Regarding the salary limit, set at 10,000 lei gross, above which vacation vouchers will no longer be granted in the fixed amount of 1,450 lei/year/employee, we express our disagreement, because this measure, the purpose of which was not only social, but supporting national tourism would create discrimination between workers, which is contrary to the principle of equality,” the statement also said on Friday.

Statistics unions also say that the threshold of 1,000 gross monthly lei for the increase in harmful conditions (capped at the amount provided for December 2018 for existing employees) is given to new employees, according to the law, as a percentage of 15% of the basic salary.

Also regarding the measure to reduce the number of management positions from 12% to 8% of the total number of employees, the abolition of the state position of chief of staff and the increase in the number of persons subordinate to management. we believe that this measure contradicts the provisions of the Administrative Code, approved by the Emergency Order of the Government of Romania no. 57/2019 with subsequent changes and additions. At the same time, the measure will affect both the rights of these categories of officials and the rights they have already won, as well as the principle of stability from the point of view of INS activities.

The adoption of the extraordinary decree of the Romanian government without negotiations with the social partner once again proves the lack of interest of the governors in the basic right of workers represented by trade unions, also stated in the statement of the trade union members from Statistics.