CulturMedia Federation, in open conflict with the management of the National Art Museum of Romania

The CulturMedia Federation is in open conflict with the management of the National Art Museum of Romania, and the long-distance dialogue is far from closed. The CulturMedia Federation responded to the statements made in the press release sent by the National Art Museum of Romania to the accusations of abuse and harassment at the workplace: "The General Director of MNAR tried to prohibit the employees of the institution from addressing higher forums to report abuses, resumed, after mediation, the abusive behavior by exercising harassment actions, exactly like those reported in the memos submitted both to the museum's ethics advisor and to the Minister of Culture". The Federation of Unions in Culture and Press CulturMedia and the Union of Specialists of the National Art Museum of Romania make clarifications about the situation of reports of harassment at the workplace and regarding incomplete information published in the public space by the general director of the National Art Museum of Romania. MNAR states: "Bringing back into discussion in the public space the referrals already resolved in May 2024 is part of the situation presented in the meeting of the MNAR Board of Directors on July 30, 2024 by the general director about the steps taken by some MNAR employees to move internal problems in the public space, with an interest in denigrating the management of the museum. These actions are taken in violation of the collective labor contract at the institution level, which stipulates the obligation for the parties to consult and inform each other in all situations related to labor relations". In response, CulturMedia representatives say that "the acts of harassment reported by MNAR employees were not resolved. Following the mediation sessions, which ended with a minutes signed by the general director and the participants, the situation was under the monitoring of the parties on a period of six months. However, less than a month after the mediation, the general director resumed the abusive behavior, just like those reported in the memos submitted to the ethics advisor of the museum and to the Minister of Culture in this sense, the employees of the Education, Communication and Cultural Projects Section signaled, through a common email (to the general director of MNAR, the ethics advisor and all the signatories of the mediation protocol) that it is necessary to respect the stipulated and assumed conditions mutual agreement of the parties in the mediation protocol". At the same time, he mentions the fact that the signatories of the memoranda managed, after insistence from the Federation of Trade Unions in Culture and Press CulturMedia, to be allowed to be assisted in the mediation by its lawyer. In the first phase, the director of MNAR refused to allow the mediations to take place in the presence of the lawyer. The trade unionists also say that "during the Board of Directors meeting on July 30, 2024, the general director of the MNAR tried to prohibit the institution's employees from addressing higher forums to report abuses or other dysfunctions within the museum. The proposal, moreover, illegal was rejected by the members of the board of directors". According to the MNAR press release, "in June 2024, the Bucharest Territorial Labor Inspectorate carried out an inspection at the MNAR, during which no aspects related to the violation of labor legislation were reported". The CulturMedia Federation states that in this case "it has already notified the competent institutions of the fact that the Bucharest Territorial Labor Inspectorate offered evasive and unclear answers to the reported cases, answers that do not respect the legislation in force". The trade unionists also claim that in the press interventions of the general director of MNAR, "he presents the situation truncated in order to be favorable to him". The Ministry of Culture informed last week that it will send the Control Body to the National Art Museum of Romania, after receiving several memos from some employees who complained that there is "discrimination, pressure" and even "sexual harassment". The reports of the last few days and the continuation of the conflict led the ministry to conduct an investigation.