The Minister of Labor, Florin Manole, states that employers were “angry about the increase in the minimum wage even when Romania had an economic growth of 7.9%”, in the context of their dissatisfaction with the union’s request to increase the minimum wage to 5,000 lei. “The current moment requires balance, requires proper communication and consultation, not inflexible initial positions”, he emphasizes.
Florin Manole spoke, in an interview for Libertatea, about a possible compromise, after the demands of the unions regarding a minimum salary of 5,000 lei, compared to 4,325 lei, as it is now, displeased the employers, reports News.ro.
“That’s right, employers were angry about the increase in the minimum wage even when Romania had an economic growth of 7.9% and when the economy was at its peak. Looking back now, we think: God, but these people didn’t have any balance in the public discourse. Of course, at that moment, the discussion was anticipatory: let’s see if this will lead to a decrease in the number of employees? Will we have problems in the labor market? It was a debate. Now years have passed, we look back and realize that either it was an incorrect calculation, or it was bad faith”, said Manole.
He emphasized that a correct consultation is needed, not “initial inflexible positions”.
“So we should have bona fide social partners at the Tripartite Committee table, who use arguments, who put the public interest beyond the immediate personal or business interest. Because, otherwise, it means that we don’t have a correct understanding of the current moment. The current moment requires balance, requires proper communication and consultation, not inflexible starting positions. Not “it shouldn’t grow” or “yes, it must grow, I don’t know how much”. We have to have a discussion. Even though we have this in the law Why do we no longer respect that law? They asked for a law that would give predictability to the evolution of the political subjectivity. We also have this kind of regulation, and its transposition into the Romanian legislation, should not leave much room for subjectivity. (…) Ok, we are in an exceptional situation, but at some point, as soon as possible, we must return to the legal mother”, added the Minister of Labor.
