ETUC: Collective Labor Agreement at European level setting minimum fair salary, necessary

The secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Luca Visentini, called on Tuesday for the elimination of the salary discrepancies between the East and the West by concluding a Collective Labor Agreement at European level setting a minimum fair level of salary for all European employees, according to a press release from SRJ MediaSind. 

The role of collective bargaining becomes the means by which we can improve the salaries of European employees. Negotiating capacity needs to be strengthened at sectoral level, and these contracts must be applied to all employees, the secretary general told the conference "A new Beginning for Collective Bargaining in Europe", organized at Victoria Palace by the European Trade Union Confederation and by the Labor Ministry under the aegis of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of Europe. 

The conference was opened by Labor Minister Marius Budai, who, at the end of the talks, expressed his hope that the event would contribute to strengthening the dialogue between the social partners and that dialogue between employees and employers become more transparent and efficient. 

"Only an honest dialogue can bring an evolution to both the employer and the employee. When the employee feels respected, his/her return increases significantly," Budai said. 

Jorg Tagger, head of the European Commission's Social Dialogue Department, spoke about the implementation of the Social Pillar and the EC priorities to support the consolidation of collective bargaining in EU countries, while Regional Executive of the International Labor Organization - Europe, Heinz Koller, pleaded for treating social dialogue in the EU states as a public good, highlighting its importance in the labor market and benefits for the social partners. He drew the attention that social partners - employers and trade unions - need to adapt to new opportunities. 

On behalf of the trade union confederations in Romania, CNSLR-Fratia president Leonard Barascu advocated the strengthening of tripartism and social dialogue as a priority in Romania, as national negotiation lost ground. The trade union leader showed that in Romania, at the basic level, there is a tendency to conclude agreements with the employees at the expense of trade unions, which led to reduced salaries and pensions. 

"The Romanian labor market suffers from a labor resource because 4 million Romanians work abroad," CNSLR-Fratia president said. 

At this event, the European Federation of Journalists, a full member of ETUC, is represented by Cristi Godinac, president of the MediaSind Romanian Journalists' Union and executive president of the Culture and Mass Media FAIR- MediaSind Federation.