English
Thousands of members of the CNSLR Frăţia union protested yesterday in Bucharest against the austerity measures adopted by the government. Coming in from all across the country, doctors, teachers and policemen demanded in unison the resignations of prime-minister Emil Boc and of president Traian Băsescu. With the slogan "The meeting of the discontent ", approximately 20,000 protesters gathered in the Revolution Square and in Victoriei Square, including some from Bucharest who were unhappy with the current state of the nation. When compared to the protest held in summer, when the five union confederations barely gathered 20,000 protesters, yesterday it took just one union to gather the same number. This time it was visible that the public sector workers have fully felt the effects of the crisis and they were in no mood to dance like last time, which shows they had reached the end of their rope. Instead of doing the "Penguin"s Dance", at the meeting of the Revolution Square, the speakers were playing the national anthem and other patriotic tunes. Protesters were equipped with flags, whistles and banners which had the following slogans: "You voted for the roses, now go and eat roses", "Over 80 billion dollars in debt and nothing to show for it", "Welcome to the heinous system, they get the money, we get the hunger", "You get the easy life, we get the anguished retirement" or "Băsescu, go after Ceauşescu".
The headquarters of the Ministry of Labor was attacked with eggs and pretzels, and out of the booing, the words which stood out the most often were "general strike". Protesters then chanted "Down with the midget" (ed. note: PM Emil Boc) or "Down with the lying government".
In Victoriei Square, the unionists threw plastic bottles and eggs towards the headquarters of the government and tried to push down the protective fences to get near the building. The strong intervention of the security forces led to scuffles. The unionists want their full wages and bonuses back, for wages to continue to be paid based on the collective labor contracts and an increase of the minimum wage from 600 lei to 705 lei. Most of them protested the cut of the wages by 25% and complained that they can"t handle expenses anymore: "We have bank loans we can"t afford to pay anymore, we want our wages back", a woman from Brăila said. Some of them still have their humor, despite their hardships: "I came here to ask for Mrs. Elena Udrea to be appointed as Prime Minister and President, so she can take what"s left of our wages away", one of the protesters, who had come here from the city of Mehedinţi said. Another protester, who was unhappy with his low pension, and who had a sign hanging from his neck that displayed the portrait of former dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, with the slogan "Was shooting me worth it?", stated: "I came here to protest on behalf of youngsters, my days are numbered anyway".
Some of the more eccentric protesters include a former revolutionary who said that "a new revolution is needed" and was singing "Viva la Revolucion! Viva Che Guevara from Dâmboviţa", a woman lying on the ground flashing her x-rays scans and certificates that proved she was extremely sick. Protesters also included gypsies vociferating: "We have many kids at home, they"re taking money away from our children."
Somewhere in a corner, among the many white-and red caps of the Sanitas unionists, a man wearing a red cap with the PSD (Social Democrat Party) logo.
The speeches of union leaders catered to the discontent of people, but also had a political tint.
One of them said that "we should do away with right-wing governments", whereas another challenged president Traian Băsescu to come and speak to people directly like he used to, if he had the courage to do so.
The union leaders called for unity among unionists and expressed their hope that the life of people will improve after these protests.
Precisely on the day that protesters were accusing Prime Minister Emil Boc of genocide, he was at the United Nations, an organization which fights for upholding democracy, human rights, the rule of law and social growth.
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Luckily for them, that in their march towards the Victoriei Square protesters avoided the Griviţei street.
A pensioner that fell in a hole
On the way to the Revolution Square, we encountered public servants doing their job, who, in spite of their newly cut wages, did not attend the protests, but were busy saving the life of a pensioner - yet another victim of the austerity measures.
A team of doctors, policemen and firefighters were struggling to help a man who had fallen into a hole that was 1.5 m deep, which was full of garbage, and had been unmarked for months, which was located just in the middle of the sidewalk, in the center of Bucharest. The man was pulled back up, full of blood, with the wounded arms and head, and was transported to the hospital in an ambulance. The incident occurred near our offices (Griviţa street no. 33).
We talked to several of the residents of the nearby block, and to the owners of some of the shops near the "crater" which almost cost the life of a man.
"This hole has been sitting here for more than a year, nobody did anything about it, but they"re very good at raising the taxes", a woman living in the nearby block said angrily.
A woman who owns a store whose door is right near the hole said she repeatedly complained to the Street Administration, but without any results: "They told me they don"t know who the hole belongs to exactly. Some told me it was the responsibility of the Street Administration, others told me that the hole was the responsibility of the neighboring block of flats. After some more phone calls, I was told it was a bunker and that the "advanced" solution for the problem was to fill it up somehow and then the mayoralty would come in and pour asphalt over it". Her story beggars belief: "The Police came in and put signs around the area, which eventually fell down. They came and put a cardboard box above it, but it then fell in the hole. Other people even covered the hole with and old door, but it also broke, after a car went over it. It"s terrible". After something like this, all we can do is hope that it won"t take a tragedy for the authorities to do something and fill that hole.
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Unions, divided by hidden interests
The arrest of Sorin Ovidiu Vântu and the hearing of Liviu Luca caused a massive strain of the relationships between union leaders, due to the support that some of the unions had provided to the latter. The schism is now visible, as the unions don"t seem to agree on a schedule for the protests.
A statement by the president of Cartel Alfa, Bogdan Hossu provided a hint of what is at stake. He said that Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu wanted to gather the leaders of the unions in a structure similar to that of the Board of Directors of Realitatea TV and that he was looking to grab the assets of the unions. Also, the chairman of the Cartel Alfa union refused to back Liviu Luca. The arguments continued over the last few days, as Vasile Marica, the leader of the civil servants of the organization "Sed Lex", affiliated with the CNSLR Fraţia, accused Sebastian Oprescu, the leader of the public sector workers affiliated with Cartel Alfa, that he has bankrupted his union. Besides, it is easy to see that many union leaders had tight connections with the boss of Realitatea TV. Dumitru Costin (BNS), Marius Petcu (the leader of CNSLR Frăţia), Liviu Luca (the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Free and Independent Unions of Petrom), Iacob Baciu (of the Confederation of Democratic Unions of Romania) and Ion Popescu (of the Meridian union) were among the shareholders of Realitatea Media, the company which owns the media group controlled by Sorin Ovidiu Vântu. Then comes Global Video Media, one of the companies that collaborated with Realitatea Media, had several union leaders as administrators: Liviu Luca (the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Free and Independent Unions of Petrom), Marius Petcu (Sanitas), Iacob Baciu (of the Confederation of Democratic Unions of Romania), Ion Popescu (the chairman of CSN Meridian), Dumitru Costin (the head of the BNS - National Unions Block), Duţu Achille Costin (the chairman of the Federation of the Free Unions in the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry).
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