Over 500 people have protested against non-implementation of law on salary grades’ provisions

Over 500 salary-earners working in education, medicine, culture, and science, supported by transporters and employees of consumption cooperatives and public shops as well as by patent holders, protested in the square of the National Opera House on Thursday, February 22. The protest against state authorities’ refusal to implement the provisions of the law on salary grades in the budgetary sphere from January 1 was organised by the Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CTUM). Petru Chiriac, chairperson of the CTUM, said the current government’s statements that the standards of living will be improved are far from becoming a reality as the salaries are low, a large number of people migrate abroad and tens of thousands of patent holders run the risk of remaining without work. The rise in prices and tariffs affects the purchase power of the population and the state does not take social measures to improve the situation. All these injustices and discriminations are fueled, as the leader of the Confederation said, by interferences in the activity of the CTUM through which the employers and the public authorities try to reduce the trade unions to silence so that the salary-earners do not claim rights. Chiriac said the trade union members ask that the Parliament fulfils the provisions of the law on salary grades from January 1 and cancel all the amendments introduced meanwhile. Also, they demand that a law on the subsistence level that would provide for the rise in the minimum salary up to the subsistence level be adopted, the education law that says teachers’ minimum salary cannot be lower than the minimum salary per economy be observed, the salary arrears towards the employees of the financially autonomous enterprises and towards public functionaries, which amounted to about 115 million lei late last year, be settled. If trade unionists’ demands are not satisfied, the CTUM will continue to protest in compliance with the legislation in operation and the international standard acts. The trade unionists said the protest was organised in such a way as not to hinder the study process, counting on the teachers that work in the second shift, on the technical personnel etc. The protest was authorised by the Chisinau City Hall.