Even if the salaries, at least the declared ones, increased to a particular extent during the last few years, they continue to be very low and remain at the core of many problems. Owing to the very low incomes and the greater intensity of work, the employees feel wronged in the relations with employers and the government and confidence that things can improve considerably is at a very low level, shows a survey of the situation of salary earners in the Republic of Moldova. The research authors said the executive should stimulate the rise in pays by faster augmenting the minimum salary, by raising salaries in the public sector and by making much more efficient efforts to legalize salary incomes, IPN reports.
The study presented on February 25 was carried out by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in partnership with Syndex Romania. Ana Mihailov, program coordinator at the FES, said the study provides a general picture. “As regards the economic development, during the past few years we have more often heard such expressions as the improvement of the business climate and investment climate, attraction of director or foreign investment, tax concessions. These are uncontestably important factors for the economic development, but we simultaneously hear less about another important factor, such as work and labor productivity,” stated Ana Mihailov.
One of the study authors Marcel Spătari said the salary earners consider the pays are very low. “The share of remuneration in the Gross Domestic Product in the Republic of Moldova is one of the lowest in Europe – 30%. The idea of the study is that there is potential for important pay raises and the state, which is the Government and the trade unions, should be more pro-active in this regard: the state by raising the minimum pay, which is now regrettably an inefficient instrument, and the trade unions by more effective collective negotiations and by developing negotiations at the level of enterprises. At the moment, they negotiate more at sector level. At the level of enterprises, the negotiations are in a structural crisis,” he stated.
According to Marcel Spătari, these circumstances fuel the people’s wish to leave the country and migration continues to be a major problem. As regards the tenser situation on the labor market, this is a general problem. “We witness the development of commuting, when persons travel in an organized way to newly opened factories, for example, in free enterprise zones. This affects the traditional industries. For example, the employers operating in traditional industries in Rezina face problems as the salary earners from villages situated nearby each morning travel to Orhei to work at recently opened enterprises. And it is harder now to find any kind of workers, not only skilled ones,” he noted.
Sergiu Sainciuc, vice president of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova, said the situation is well known. Even if the salaries rose by about 10% during the last three-four years, the minimum and average salaries in Moldova are the lowest in Europe. “The situation concerning the average salary, minimum salary should be changed as the minimum official salary is of about €50 or 1,000 lei and this hasn’t been changed since October 1, 2014,” stated Sergiu Sainciuc, noting the trade unionists insist on raising the minimum pay to at least 50-60% of the average official salary.
