Interim Minister of Labor, Dragoș Pîslaru, argues that the new salary law has issues that need to be corrected and states that he took over the current form of the project without participating in its development. Following Thursday’s discussions with Education unions, he stated that he is „acting as a scapegoat” for the mistakes and delays of the past.
Pîslaru specified that Education is one of the areas benefiting from the largest allocations within the available budget ceiling for the new law, namely 1.75 billion lei out of a total of 8 billion lei.
Difficult negotiations with unions
The Minister stated that the meeting with union representatives and the Ministry of Education highlighted several issues with the draft law, which are expected to be corrected in the coming period. "It is not a perfect law. We have identified several gaps that I hope we can correct together with the unions and the Ministry of Education," he said.
Among the topics discussed were the rearrangement of salary grids, the equivalence between merit gradation and performance bonuses, as well as the application of certain allowances.
Pîslaru described the negotiations as difficult but constructive. "No one is happy on either side, but I think this is actually a good indication that we are in an honest negotiation that can lead to a result," the minister said.
"Ask those who prepared the law"
Asked why these consultations did not take place before the project was published, the minister replied that he is not the author of the document.
"I took over the law as it is. So I had three weeks with a law prepared in the past, and you need to ask those who prepared it why it has those gaps," said Dragoș Pîslaru.
He avoided directly pointing out those responsible for the identified problems, stating that he is more interested in improving the project than in disputes regarding the past.
"I am the scapegoat"
The interim Minister of Labor admitted that he is now facing criticism for a law drafted before he took over his mandate.
"I am indeed the scapegoat, for all the things that were not done, either on time or were done without robust consultations with all occupational families," he stated.
Pîslaru stated that he is trying to give "a chance" to the salary reform and to find a balance between the demands of different categories of civil servants and the budget constraints imposed by the state.
Negotiations with the military and police to follow
Discussions on the salary law will continue in the coming days. The Minister announced that on Friday he will have meetings with representatives of defense and public order structures, as well as with self-financed institutions.
According to him, the objective is to improve the project before the final form, so that the law can best meet the demands of various occupational families in the public sector, without exceeding budget limits.