Raluca Turcan: "Cultural salaries are embarrassingly low"

The respect that authorities show to culture can be observed in the salaries of those who work in the field. Every now and then, a minister responsible for this domain acknowledges that the salaries are low, but things do not change. The Minister of Culture, Raluca Turcan, stated that the remuneration in the cultural sector is "embarrassingly low," failing to incentivize professionals to work in this sector, despite the need for specialists. Therefore, she has proposed a new law on remuneration in this field. Raluca Turcan mentioned that since taking office as Minister of Culture, she has focused her efforts on several key areas, one of which concerns remuneration in the cultural sector. In this context, she noted that she has proposed a new law on remuneration in Culture, and the draft legislation has been accepted by the Ministry of Labor: "Given the embarrassingly low remuneration in the cultural sector, I have received confirmation that the fact that we have developed a remuneration law for the cultural field that aims to stimulate newcomers, eliminate salary disparities between management and execution positions in the cultural field, reduce the gap between institutions under national and local authorities, makes me state, without any reservations, that if these proposals that we have submitted to the Ministry of Labor and have been accepted by the Ministry of Labor come into effect, then professionals will enter the cultural field, and at the same time, employees in the field will be encouraged to excel." Raluca Turcan added, "You cannot expect people to work in the cultural sector if they have the prospect of low salaries. Therefore, even from the perspective of professionals who have invested personal resources in developing a unique museum in Romania (the Museum of Textiles), I have received confirmation that remuneration needs a complete overhaul in the cultural field." The Minister of Culture visited several cultural and historical sites in Hunedoara County. Turcan mentioned that she visited three cultural sites: the Museum of Textiles - a unique private museum in the town of Băiţa, the Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilization in Deva, and Deva Fortress. Turcan stated that even in the private sector, the lack of professionals in the cultural field is strongly felt.