In 2023, 32% of Romanians were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, almost 80% of people with disabilities did not earn enough to afford a holiday, and 35% of workers were at the level of the guaranteed minimum wage, which still does not cover the minimum consumption cost for a decent living, the „Cartel Alfa” National Trade Union Confederation shows in a press release on Monday on the occasion of the World Day for Decent Work.
„Decent work is the basis for a dignified and secure life, and access to a fair wage, healthy working conditions, social protection and collective bargaining are essential for the well-being of workers and their families. On the World Day for Decent Work, we call for solidarity and for the continuation of the fight to promote the principles underpinning social status,” the release reads.
According to the source, the discourse in the public space is about austerity, and the obsession is to identify agencies, public bodies and institutions from which to cut.
„In the discourse of austerity, the state remains oversized, and every expenditure must be passed through the austerity filter. This way, the state cannot develop public services, which are developed by the private sector and then paid for by the state. At the end of the year, the state ends up spending more because of the high prices in the private sector, but also promoting inequality of access to services,” the union leaders argue.
On the World Day for Decent Work, the Cartel Alfa representatives draw the attention once more on the need for social dialogue and cooperation.
„A good part of the population remains in the shadows, ends up not believing in civic, public or political involvement and embraces the path of categorical pessimism. Social and economic rights, which offer protection to workers, have often been won through bloody struggles, conflicts in which trade unionists have been publicly attacked and their rights to free speech and association have been denied. These situations are not a thing of the past, and as long as workers all over the world, regardless of country or field of activity, suffer an injustice, each one of us feels it,” the source added.
AGERPRES
