On Trade Unionist’s Day, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca spoke to trade union members about the benefits of the Association Agreement with the EU that Moldova is to sign on June 27. The Premier said that after the accord is signed, they will discuss the adoption of a salary strategy with the European partners so that the minimum salary in 2016 be over 4,200 lei, IPN reports.
Iurie Leanca stated that the principles of the European social model and social dialogue and salary earners’ rights can be successfully promoted only if the fact that both the Government and the trade unions pursue one goal – to ensure people’s welfare – is taken into account. In this connection, the Premier noted that they count a lot on the support and understanding of the trade unions and on their capacity to offer assistance in fighting poverty, corruption and other bad practices in the administrative area.
“If we do not reformulate well the basic remuneration principle in 2015 or 2016, we will face the same problems as now and will be unable to attract the good ones with competences. Not the best, but those who weren’t admitted to other institutions will come to the Teacher Training Institute. Not the best specialists, but those who were unable to find employment in the private sector or outside the country will come to work at state institutions. Therefore, we thought very seriously to work out a clear strategy that we can implement if we pass the exam of 2016,” stated Iurie Leanca.
Oleg Budza, chairman of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova, noted that June 7 for the trade unions is not only a professional holiday, but also a day for joining efforts and making common cause with a view to ensuring social equity and dignity at work. “The institutions that have trade unions do not pay salaries illegally and observe the rights of employees. During a year, we managed to raise the minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector from 1,400 lei to 1,650 lei starting with May 1,” he said, adding that at the insistence of trade unions, the tariff salary for the first category in the budgetary sphere was are increased from 800 lei to 900 lei.
Head of the National Employers Confederation of Moldova Leonid Cerescu underlined that despite the disagreements existing between trade unions and employers, effort is made to solve the socioeconomic problems by negotiations and cooperation so as to build a better future.
In Moldova, Trade Unionist’s Day was instituted in 2007. The National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova includes 27 trade union centers with almost 500,000 members.
