Premium
The reform of the pension system in Romania must include the elimination of existing discrimination between different professional categories working under the same conditions, otherwise it will continue to create discontent among employees by maintaining the current inequalities, says president of the Meridian National Union of Police and Civil Servants Voinea Negoita.
"In the public space, information has appeared that, in this period when the draft law on the reform of special pensions is being debated, customs workers would request that this professional category also benefit from this "privilege." Thus, the deputies would have received a proposal for an amendment to the draft law requiring that the employees of the Romanian Customs Authority be granted, after at least 20 years of activity and 35 years of contributions, a service pension in the amount of 65% of the calculation base represented by the average income achieved in the last 12 months before the retirement date," the union leader is quoted as saying in a press release sent to AGERPRES Thursday.
According to the quoted source, customs workers are asking for a right that another professional category benefits from, namely border police officers, who work under the same conditions at border crossing points. Thus, if the pension system in Romania is to be reformed, it would also be necessary to eliminate the existing discrimination between the different categories of employees, Voinea Negoita believes, told Agerpres.
In his opinion, it should be mentioned that border crossing points are used to control people, means of transport, freight goods and other goods. "In this context, only travel documents are checked by the border police officer, while the customs officer checks means of transport and goods, as well as goods and valuables belonging to individuals. Although they work under the same conditions and the number of border guards is double or even triple, customs officers currently retire at the age of 65 compared to their colleagues who retire at 50, and the calculation of the pension is based on contributions," says the president of the Meridian Trade Union.
Last but not least, discrimination is also found in the granting of salary rights, in that the employees of the Romanian Customs Authority do not benefit from the bonuses for border activities, the rights granted for working with service dogs or the payment for Saturdays and Sundays on duty.
Regarding the amendment proposal from the customs workers, it should be noted that it provides for more restrictive conditions for retirement than those of border police officers and that the pension would be cancelled if the beneficiary were convicted in connection with his activity as a public official with special status within the Romanian Customs Authority, the press release says.
