Moldovan premier says cabinet has constructive dialogue with trade unions on increasing salaries under subsistence minimum

Chisinau, 11 January /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Pavel Filip, at a today’s cabinet meeting, voiced confidence that this year started in much better conditions than the ones of 2016. He demanded that the authorities focus on priority actions for 2017, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.   

“While 2016 was a year of country’s stabilization and settling of an economic and social crisis, then 2017 must become a year of development and economic growth,” Filip also said.  

Pavel Filip stressed that it was urgently necessary to carry out a string of reforms in vital sectors, such as health, social field or education.  

In the context, the prime minister noted that, on 10 January, he had had a meeting with trade unions representatives, during which emphasis was put particularly on  problems accumulated in the education and science sector.   

“The discussions were constructive and we want in continuation a sincere, open dialogue for communication with all interested sides. We want to identify viable and sustainable solutions to all problems,” Pavel Filip said.

The PM also said that solutions had been practically found to five of the six claims filed by trade unionists. It remains to find the settlement also for the demand of increasing the salary for the category I of auxiliary staff up to the subsistence minimum on Moldova.    

“We can overcome the present problems only through dialogue. Tomorrow, we will have a meeting during a plenary meeting of trade unions; we will see what are the internal reserves and which is the needed effort on behalf of the government to increase the salaries that are under the subsistence minimum,” the prime minister said.  

Pavel Filip specified that the approach should be complex and regard all categories of auxiliary staff of the budgetary system. Thus, it is necessary to re-evaluate the wage payment system and we also need a serious reform in the field, in order to no longer tolerate salaries under the subsistence minimum.   

To this end, the prime minister instructed the creation of a working group, which, by common consent with the trade unions and other institutions, will find efficient solutions to each problem separately, and will make proposals on reforming the wage payment system for all budgetary employees. 

Also, Pavel Filip said that he had demanded that Deputy Prime Minister, Gheorghe Brega, Education Ministry, Finance Ministry and Labour, Social Protection and Family Ministry continue the open and transparent dialogue with trade unions just on the immediately next days.     

(Editor L. Alcaza)