The situation of union buildings, settled on the day preceding the protests

The issue of the buildings in which the major union groups are located is to be settled today in the Parliament, in the day preceding the largest union protest of the last ten years.

Union confederations could receive the right to use the state owned buildings in which they are headquartered, free of charge, as well the right to buy them after six months at their book value, rather than at the market prices.

These proposals are included in a draft bill of the opposition, which complains about the financial difficulties of the union confederations, and which is scheduled to be voted today by the Chamber of Deputies.

In exchange, the major unions would be required to use the buildings received from the state only as headquarters for their operations and to pay the maintenance expenses.

The decision of the Chamber of Deputies (which is the decisional Chamber of the Parliament) comes just before the protests organized by the major unions, scheduled to take place tomorrow in front of the building of the Parliament, in which 80,000 protesters are expected to participate.

The unionists" protest is intended to pressure the members of the Parliament into passing the vote of no-confidence initiated by the opposition, which would force the Boc government to resign.

It needs to be reminded that the last similar protest which took place in June, when the "Stop the social genocide" vote of no-confidence was debated, around 8,000 unionists protested in front of the Parliament. The protest was rife with incidents, as demonstrators tried to force their way inside the building.

• The ghost of the unions" assets

Another thorny issue in the relationship between the Parliament and the union confederations is the restitution of the properties of the union properties.

The last draft bill which provided the restitution of the properties of the unions was permanently withdrawn via a parliamentary procedure on September 22nd, 2009, after the MPs of the PSD voted together with PDL MPs against the restitution.

This month, union leaders had several negotiations with the leaders of the political parties on the topic of the motion of censorship, but unionists claim that the restitution of the unions" patrimony was not discussed.

"We did not discuss the restitution of the unions" patrimony. This is the last thing on our minds right now (ed. note: - the vote of no-confidence is)", said Petru Dandea, vicepresident of CNS Cartel ALFA. Leaders of the BNS (National Union Block) and CNSLR Frăţia expressed a similar opinion.

Petru Dandea said that if the Boc Government gets removed and replaced by a new Executive, the unions would raise the issue of the restitution of the unions" assets during the negotiations.

According to some estimates, the properties of the unions are worth 500 million Euros.

• Discussions with the parties, but no mention of the restitution

Union leaders interviewed by BURSA said the negotiations with the political parties, concerned only the vote of no-confidence, and that the that the issue of the restitution was not brought up.

We hereinafter present the statements of the union leaders on the matter.

Petru Dandea, the vice-president of CNS Cartel ALFA: "We did not discuss with the parties the retrocession of the patrimony of the unions. This is the last thing on our minds".

Ion Pisc, first vice-president of the National Union Block (BNS): "There were no negotiations on this topic with any of the political parties".

Sorin Stan, secretary general of the CNSLR Frăţia: "The topic of the patrimony of the unions was not discussed. Ţhe country is more concerned with salaries, pensions, we have other problems".

• The headquarters of the unions and the parliamentary procedure

Each section of the Plx 285/2010 draft bill, which would provide benefits to the major union groups which signed the Sole Collective Labor Contract on a national level, would be put up for vote.

This decision was made because the Parliament"s session of October 19th failed to meet the number of votes required for the rejection report drawn up by the Local Administration Commission concerning the draft bill.

As part of the Parliamentary commissions, the draft bill received several amendments. One of them substituted the free use of the buildings with their use based on a rental contract. Another amendment stipulates the elimination of the provision that stipulates that union confederations will be allowed to acquire their headquarters within six months after the enactment of the law. The senate rejected this draft, and the decision now lies with the Chamber of Deputies.

• Unions: "The government is trying to discredit our actions"

In a press release sent to our editors, CNS Cartel ALFA, BNS, CNSLR Frăţia, CSDR and Meridian, the great unions groups that will organize Wednesday"s protest scheduled to be held in front of the Parliament"s building, accuse the current government of trying to discredit their protest.

Union leaders said that the government claims that the march and the meeting have been scheduled with the involvement of the opposition.

"The government is trying to get the unions involved in its vendetta against the opposition, and is alluding that that the march and the protest of October 27th, is not an expression of the citizens" discontent, but rather a movement backed by political parties, and compounds the insult by claiming that the protesters have been paid to participate in the meeting in front of the Parliament", the press release states. Unionists also said they were angry at the decision of the PDL MPs to vote against the motion of no-confidence.

• Udrea: "Most of those who will attend the meeting are party members"

The position of the unions comes just as, according to Mediafax, minister Elena Udrea said on Sunday night that it will review whether the protests can be stopped via legal means, and if they can"t, "it needs to be known that most of those who will attend the protests are party members".

Elena Udrea also claimed that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) would organize trips to transport protesters to Bucharest: "I"ve been told that they are trying to rent trains, minivans, and buses to bring their members to protest".