Establishing the national gross minimum wage guaranteed by law for the next year was the main topic of consultations held on Wednesday at the Victoria Palace between Government representatives and social partners, within the meeting of the National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue.
According to a Government release, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said that raising the minimum wage would protect the purchasing power of low-income employees, but would also have a series of negative effects.
In this regard, the Prime Minister mentioned "feeding the inflationary spiral, increasing pressure on small businesses, which could lead to job losses in the HORECA sector, furniture industry and light industry, as well as higher personnel costs in the public sector."
Representatives of the employers' organisations argued for keeping the gross minimum wage at the current level of 4,050 lei per month, pointing out that over the past four years the minimum wage has risen by 76 percent, exceeding the sustainable growth of the economy, the release says.
They added that any further increase in the current minimum wage would accentuate competitiveness problems for the private-sector businesses, which could be forced to cut jobs in low-productivity sectors, the quoted source added.
In their turn, the trade union representatives called for a minimum wage increase, underscoring that it is an important measure to protect the purchasing power and mentioned that the union organisations are prepared to propose a set of measures to safeguard jobs, the Government mentioned.
As a conclusion, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stated that "the arguments presented by the social partners will be analysed taking into account the economic and social context and, by Christmas, the Government will make a decision regarding the minimum wage for next year."
At the meeting of the National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue, the Government representatives and social partners also discussed the quota of foreign workers from non-EU countries allowed to work in Romania in 2026, with legislation on this expected to be adopted by the Government in the coming weeks, the release said.
The discussions also covered a draft law on amendments to copyright legislation, the reorganisation of Romsilva, human resources issues in health and social care, as well as education sector salaries, the release added.
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