The PSD-PNL coalition wants to raise the minimum wage from July 1

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced yesterday to his colleagues from the PSD-PNL governing coalition that he negotiated with representatives of the business environment the increase of the minimum wage from 3,300 gross lei to 3,700 lei gross, as well as the increase from 200 lei to 300 lei of the tax-exempt amount from the minimum wage. Initially, some PNL leaders stated that they did not know about the Prime Minister's decision regarding the minimum wage increase, even though Marcel Ciolacu specified that the decision to increase the minimum wage was made on December 15, in the governing coalition.

Later, Rareş Bogdan, the first vice-president of the PNL, told Antena 3: "To cancel any kind of speculation that appeared or was pushed into the public space, the National Liberal Party is not opposed to the increase of the minimum wage. We want compensation measures that commercial companies, employers, Romanian capitalists, Romanian private capital should receive, discussed together with relevant associations, with employers' associations, which propose that one of the measures be a deduction, a non-taxation of 300 lei from the increase of 400 lei in the minimum wage, from 3,300 to 3,700 lei, i.e. to 740 euros".

The intention of the governing coalition displeased the PMP leader, MEP Eugen Tomac, who said: "The red and yellow Pedestrians are preparing to announce with great pomp the increase of the minimum wage. But let's tell the truth! This is not a revolutionary political decision for the labor market. Romania is obliged to transpose the Minimum Wage Directive into national legislation by November 15, 2024, an initiative that I actively promoted in the European Parliament. If we apply the formulas of the directive, we should have in Romania a minimum gross salary of at least 4000 lei, higher than the current minimum gross salary of 3300 lei and than the electoral promises of the current government (3700 lei gross). In September 2023, the minimum basket for a single adult was 3,807 lei per month. An employee paid the current minimum wage receives 2080 lei net, far below the level of a minimum basket necessary for a decent living. We must bear in mind that more than 1.5 million Romanians are paid the minimum wage and are at risk of working poverty".

We remind you that last year the companies were already subject to two increases in the minimum wage, in the conditions of a low level of productivity and economic growth, and a new wage increase will increase the pressure on their finances, especially for companies operating in areas with low margins of profit, such as for example distribution of goods, traditional retail, logistics.

Regarding the upcoming salary increase, Daniel Mischie, vice president of HORA & CEO of City Grill Group, stated that it may cause price increases on the shelf or in the restaurant.

Daniel Mischie said, quoted by Economedia.ro: "It's a joy when the salary increases, but the moment you go to the store or restaurant you will find that the products will become a little more expensive. You raise the minimum wage by 12% and then you have to raise prices. A new phase of price increases at the shelf or in the restaurant, of two percent, will probably follow. I think the reaction will be immediate."

For his part, Bogdan Hossu, the president of the National Confederation of Trade Unions - Cartel Alfa, said in a show on DC News TV: "Six months before the elections, you can no longer make salary increases. That's why everyone rushed until June 1 to issue the various normative acts that regulated corrections or should have regulated salary corrections. The current budget salary law is completely outdated. Its projection was supposed to end in 2022 and was foreseen for a minimum wage per economy of 2500 lei. Today, the minimum wage is 3300 lei. From July 1, we will probably have 3,700 lei - guaranteed minimum salary in payment".

The trade union leader stated that already all the functions in the budget sector caught in the coefficient 1, up to almost the coefficient 2, are paid today with the guaranteed minimum wage in the economy, which represents a system of demotivating work established by the governors and political decision-makers who "according to the provisions of the PNRR, he should have issued the new budget salary law by March 2023 at the latest".