Libraries and museums, closed on holidays

Employees in the cultural field consider themselves discriminated against by the authorities and have decided to intensify their protests. The museographers and librarians continue their protests and will close the institutions on public holidays, being dissatisfied because they have not received any response to the demands made in recent months. The CulturMedia National Trade Union Federation affiliated to the Cartel Alfa National Trade Union Confederation "vehemently protests against the current government's continuous policy of disregard and humiliation of the employees of the national system of museums and libraries and decides to continue the protests": "Since they have not received any response to the demands made in in the last months, the promises of salary increases not being honored, the members of the CulturMedia National Trade Union Federation decided, as part of the forms of protest, to strictly comply with the provisions of the Labor Code and to no longer respond to the requests of the central and local authorities to work on public holidays and after hours, thus sacrificing their personal and family life. Any pressure or coercion of employees to perform professional activities on public holidays or after hours, exercised in any form, will be considered an abuse and will use the legal means of notifying the competent authorities in order to sanction him". The Federation draws attention to the strict observance by museums and libraries of public holidays, days declared free in accordance with the provisions of art. 139, 140, 141 of the Labor Code.

The days of legal holiday in which no work is done are: January 1 and 2; January 6 - Baptism of the Lord - Epiphany; January 7 - Council of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist; January 24 - Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities; Good Friday, the last Friday before Easter; the first and second day of Easter; 1st May; June 1st; the first and second day of Pentecost; August 15 - Dormition of the Mother of God; November 30 - Holy Apostle Andrew the First Called, Protector of Romania; December 1st; the first and second day of Christmas; two days for each of the 3 annual religious holidays, declared as such by the legal religious cults, other than the Christian ones, for the persons belonging to them. The CulturMedia National Trade Union Federation continues to request emergency measures for: remedying the moral and salary discrimination generated by GEO 128/2023 and the urgent equalization of similar positions in the system of museums and public libraries; allocating a budget of 0.9 of GDP to the cultural sector with a fair distribution to museum institutions and libraries; remedying the current anomalies in the salary system of the personnel in cultural institutions - equalization with performance institutions; the annual indexation of the salaries of the staff paid from public funds in the cultural institutions, with the inflation rate, in order to preserve the purchasing power of the workers, the additional payment of the staff from the cultural units/institutions involved in the activities generating income for the state budget (preventive archaeological research , other activities generating own income) as well as the staff from the project teams financed from European funds; payment of overtime for staff in public museums and libraries and financial compensation for staff who sacrifice their family life by working permanently on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; respecting, consulting and involving the legal partners of social dialogue in the legislative activity that is likely to produce effects in the field; collective labor contract at activity sector level for public museum institutions and public libraries; unlocking vacant positions and supplementing the function schemes at museum institutions that cannot carry out their activities properly due to the chronic shortage of personnel.