LabMin Budai: Trade unionists' demands are legitimate, but we need to find a balance.
The trade unionists' demands are legitimate, but we must find a balance, Labour Minister Marius Budai said on Wednesday, at the end of negotiations with the leaders of the three Education federations, told Agerpres.
"I am a friend of the trade unionists and, certainly, everything they said, we said it too, publicly from the very beginning that their demands are legitimate, but we must find that balance that the minister spoke of, in which we also think of the children. But of course also [think of] the teachers," Budai said.
Asked if the trade unionists would accept the Government's offer and put an end to the strike in education, Budai replied: "The hope is much higher than at the last meeting and we know very well that the dialogue was constructive and that is important. It is the most important."
Regarding the new Unitary Wages Law, the Labour Minister stressed that the starting point was Law No.153/2017, and now he is in a position to build the annexes together with the ministries, adding that he has had around 10 meetings with the trade unions on this document.
Budai also said that this Unitary Wages Law should solve the demands of the trade unionists in Education. "We have to see, to be extremely objective, realistic, to what extent they can be achieved, but determination, because this time, as I was in the parliamentary majority in the first mandate, when I had the honour to be first a MP and then a minister and I had an extraordinary determination then to have the health sector, a priority sector. We can ask a rhetorical question about what the pandemic would have meant with the continued exodus of doctors from Romania, but now, we certainly believe that it is clear that it must be education's turn," the Labour Minister stated.
Union leaders announced on Wednesday evening after meeting with representatives of the Executive that the general strike in Education continues, and the messages coming so far from union members are to reject the Government's offer.
The general strike in Education started on Monday, 22 May.