LabMin Vasilescu: Companies ask us to open borders for foreigner workers;why aren't they hiring Romanians

Companies request borders be opened for foreign workers, but they will have to be paid with an average salary, namely over 3,000 lei per month, according to a European directive and it would be better that companies hire Romanian workers, with the help of European money and governmental programmes, Labour Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu told a debate on Monday, which focused on the crisis of Romania's labour force. 

"We get to this sensitive topic that the business environment addressed many times and namely the increase of the foreign workers contingent on Romania's soil. I already had many talks with the business environment, that demanded us to open the borders for those from the Republic of Moldova or Ukraine, I even heard of 3,000 workers from Sri Lanka, a big company from western Romania wants this thing. I have received requests including from some mayors of villages located at the western border, who are requesting us to open borders for foreigners. I would like to tell you some things that are good to be known: you will have to pay [the foreigner workers] with the average wage, namely not 1,450 lei, as the minimum wage is, but over 3,000 lei, as the average wage is. It's a EU directive in order to protect the domestic labour force of the EU, a directive that Romania can't and doesn't intend to dismiss," the Labour Minister said. 

In her opinion, companies should first use all the instruments at their disposal in order to hire Romanian workers. 

She brought to mind that we have three million Romanians outside the borders.

AGERPRES.