In the last three weeks of the school year, before the International Baccalaureate exam and National Evaluation for middle-grade students, Romania is currently witnessing a major strike organized by teachers.
Now, Sanitas, the largest union of healthcare workers in Romania, has picketed the Health Ministry for higher wages. Union leaders say that they will organize a warning strike on June 1, which will be followed by a general strike after June 8, if their demands are not met.
A second strike, involving doctors, would lay even more pressure on the ruling coalition, as its members, the Social-Democrats and the Liberals, are attempting to trade the office of prime minister among each other and reshuffle the cabinet.
Health trade unionists protested on Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Health and announced that they are collecting signatures to go on a general strike at the beginning of June. Among the demands are: the implementation of the single wage law for the budget system in its entirety, but also the increase of the food allowance, which is 10 lei per day.
The SANITAS union protested today in front of the Ministry of Health, and the representatives announced that a warning strike will follow in the following days, and a general strike in the following days.
On June 8, a warning strike is scheduled with the interruption of activity for two hours, between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Government spending on health increased in the European Union in 2020 compared to 2019. According to Eurostat,n 2020, the member states that allocated the most of their GDP to health were: the Czech Republic and Austria (both with 9.2%) and France (9%).
At the opposite pole, the member states that allocated the lowest percentage of GDP to health were Latvia (4.8% of GDP), Poland and Ireland (both with 5.4% of GDP) and Romania (5.5% of GDP).
