BNS calling on President to direct his attention to capitalizing on in-country human resources

The National Trade Union Bloc (BNS) sent President Klaus Iohannis an open letter, accusing him of seeking more flexibility for those who want to work abroad, instead of directing his attention to capitalizing on in-country human resources, agerpres reports.

"Striving for an 'educated Romania' is meaningless and ineffective if this education is not turned to good account in the country. It is urgent and imperative that together, you, the government, Parliament and the representative social partners, make a collective effort to identify those drivers that can determine a change in the national human resources policy, for us to get in line with the principles set forth by the European social model," the BNS representatives write.

The trade union organization goes on to note that whereas in seven years in office, the President of Romania has only once accepted to meet with the workers' representatives - the nationally representative trade union confederations, he has met countless times with the representatives of the business milieu. "During your tenure, the labor market continued to suffer major shifts that have profoundly affected the workers' rights and freedoms, the quality of jobs and, last but not least, the social security system," the BNS letter states.

The trade union organization argues that since acquiring EU membership, Romania has managed just a small reduction of the social gaps that separate it from the EU average, which is evident from the European Pillar of Social Rights scoreboard indicators. For instance, Romania's at-risk-of-poverty rate was 24.6% in 2007, and 23.4% in 2020, far from the European average (16.5% in 2007 and 16.6% in 2019). Also, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for men was 19% in 2007 and 18.1% in 2020, double the European average (9.4%).

"As long as Romania offers such limited study opportunities, and working conditions are so precarious (low wages, often violated rights, frequent exposure to risk, etc.), your message urges Romanian citizens towards the only viable option - migration. With Romania having the fifth largest diaspora in the world and an especially young workforce keen on leaving their homeland, you, Mr. President, want more flexibility for those who want to work abroad, instead of looking to capitalize on in-country human resources," the BNS trade unionists write.

The trade union organization also mentions that recently the Labor Ministry submitted for debate a draft regulatory act to increase the quota of non-EU workers admitted to the national labor market in 2021 to 50,000, ie double compared to the number set last year for 2021.

"Unless we understand that there is an urgent need to bring about dramatic changes in the attention and importance given to workforce by: respecting workers' rights, promoting an adequate wage policy, the minimum wage included, strengthening collective bargaining both at sectoral and unit level, and by significant investments in adult education and in workplace health and safety, massively importing Asian labor remains the only solution to ensure the workforce required for the functioning of the economy, especially for implementing the investment projects provided for by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan!," BNS warns.