Preparations for a strike in the cultural sector

Dissatisfaction among cultural sector employees is on the rise. The leaders of the FAIR-MediaSind Federation and the management of the Association of Philharmonic Managers (AMF) have informed the Minister of Culture, Raluca Turcan, about the reasons for initiating a labor dispute in Culture and Mass Media. This comes at a time when signatures are being collected to initiate a general strike. According to the union representatives, the FAIR-MediaSind delegation was composed of the organization's president, Leonard Octavian Pădureţ, and the executive president, Cristi Godinac. The Association of Philharmonic Managers was represented by Vlad Mateescu - president, and Petruţ Constantinescu - secretary. They presented the Minister of Culture with the main reasons behind the intention to initiate the labor dispute, which include issues with the Unified Salary Law, leading to demotions in certain institutions and salary reductions, non-compliance with the provisions of Law no. 157/2021 regarding performance and concert institutions, emergency ordinances concerning budget restrictions, Government Ordinance 189/2008, the Cultural Worker Statute that excludes social dialogue with trade unions, the lack of collective contracts in Culture and Mass Media, and so on.

During the discussions, representatives of both organizations also presented solutions for resolving the issues raised, with the possibility of organizing future meetings to address specific topics. According to the source, in relation to salary issues, corrections will be made where major discrepancies exist. Regarding the Cultural Worker Statute, a promise was made that trade unions would be included in social dialogue in accordance with the provisions of Law no. 367/2022, the Romanian Constitution, ILO conventions, and European directives in the field of labor relations.

The union representatives also highlighted important issues faced by colleagues in major media institutions, including the Romanian Television Society, the Romanian Radio Society, and the National News Agency Agerpres. These issues included the clarification of the status and public mission of these institutions, problems with salary levels and poor technical equipment, editorial independence, programs, ratings, and more. Additionally, the threat of a potential 50% reduction in salaries for colleagues at the state's largest news agency was discussed with the Minister of Culture, who emphasized the urgent need to address the salary issue for Agerpres journalists to prevent it from affecting the quality of their work, especially that of territorial correspondents.

Representatives of FAIR-MEDIA SIND also stressed the need for a working meeting to defuse the conflict situation in Culture and Mass Media. They proposed that this meeting should include representatives of the Prime Minister, the Culture and Mass Media Committees of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Labor.