The Ministry of Labor rejected the initiation of a labor conflict at the level of the Ministry of Finance, according to the statement of the National Federation of Trade Unions in the Administration – FNSA.

“On August 11, 2023, at a meeting organized by the Minister of Finance with social partners, some aspects were agreed upon, recorded in the protocol concluded on the same date. However, later on, the government party did not fulfill its obligations,” the message reads.

As a result of this approach, the document states, the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity informed the FNSA that: “there are no grounds for breaking the labor conflict”, so we do not have the right to demand reconciliation, because according to Art. 123 of Law No. 367/2022 “employees’ demands, the resolution of which requires the adoption of a law or other regulatory act, cannot be the object of collective labor conflicts.”

“This cynical response only reinforces what I, along with my colleagues in finance, have noticed for a long time: the Romanian government is not interested and has never been interested in solving the problems faced by the employees of the system, in fulfilling the role of the main institution responsible for the implementation of the common consolidated of the state budget, wishing that the institutions of the Ministry of Finance would not have sufficient influence on the implementation of activities,” the cited source mentions.

• “The lack of a well-developed IT system, with which the state monitors and imposes sanctions on deviations from tax legislation (for example, VAT evasion, which puts Romania in the first place in Europe), is not a reason for a national emergency for the Romanian government, more chosen in the current context? It seems that the indignation of financial workers regarding the insufficient collection of amounts owed by violators of tax legislation to the state budget is worrying.”

• “Improper working conditions, sometimes lower than the standards of decency, lack of staff, lack of materials (in some institutions, employees purchase pens at their own expense), the fact that they are often sent for control hundreds of kilometers away, security – does the institution give them small amounts , to purchase fuel, food and somehow determine a place of residence for the continuation of the next day of control, is this a reason for peace for the Romanian government?”

• “Isn’t the lack of contracts and collective labor agreements the reason for igniting a labor conflict? Does the protection of the financial officer from abuse and interference of the political factor through the development of the Statute of the financier somehow contradict the interests of the political class?”

“All these demands were the subject of a message to the Ministry of Labor, through which our organization asks for reconciliation,” the trade unions report.

• “The response of the mentioned institution, by which it refuses this procedure, actually reflects the true intentions of the political class: we are not interested in solving real problems, in strengthening the capacity of the Romanian state to fulfill its powers. control through a strong financial system, because in this way we hinder the financial and entangled interest groups in the political world. Instead, with cynicism and to the applause of interest representatives, the workers declare that they have no right to incite a labor conflict on the side of the declared problems. For whose peace is this happening in Romania, which is in desperate need of financial resources? Citizens or employees, in no case. Don’t worry, in exchange for underfunding the system, we will collect more money from the budget by additional taxation of the meal tariff of 35 lei or by refusing to provide holiday vouchers!”

FNSA has asked the Department of Labor to reassess the situation and take on the role of mediator in this dispute as we are still within the legal time frame to resolve this situation.