Unions threaten overthrowing the Government

• The Government sent the letter confirming it would take full responsibility for the laws in the reform package to the Parliament

• Unions say they were not consulted and are requesting that the Government make the draft bills public

Prime Minister Emil Boc announced yesterday on the public radio station that he signed the letter by which the Government takes full responsibility for the three draft bills (ed. note: The Draft for the Law of National Education, The Draft for Salaries in the Public Sector concerning the reorganization of some public authorities and institutions), which would reach the Parliament by Monday.

The Prime Minister said that the Legislative body has available a time frame set by the Permanent Offices of the two Houses of the Parliament to submit amendments, but the final form will still be decided in a Government session, in which ministers will accept or deny the amendments proposed by members of the Parliament.

Emil Boc denied that the Government is rushing through with the major reform projects, and emphasized that discussions around the three bill drafts began as early as February.

• The Parliament confirms the receipt of the letter

According to a press release by the Chamber of Deputies, sent to our editors, the letter in which the Parliament notifies the Government of its intention to take responsibility for the three laws reached the Parliament yesterday. The document will be submitted for debate to the Joint Permanent Offices of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, in order to set the schedule for the procedure.

• "CNS Cartel ALFA" unionists: Communist dictatorship in disguise

In a letter addressed to the Prime-Minister, unionists of CNS Cartel ALFA requested the urgent publication of the three bill drafts that the Government wants to take full responsibility for, as well as a meeting of all the social partners (unions and professional associations) with the members of the Government, before they are submitted to the Parliament.

Should the Government refuse, unionists warn that they will be forced to take any possible action to force the Government to resign, as, according to them if the Government refused to disclose those laws it would mean that the "constitutional state is no longer working".

Unionists say that the Government did not consult with them on the three draft bills "which are essential for fair compensation and balancing the salaries in the public sector, for the future of Romanian education and for the independence and investigative power of several institutions that regulate labor" and accuses the Government of acting in secrecy.

"This kind of actions are manipulative, a type of communist dictatorship that most citizens have already lived under and which is no longer tolerable, even less so today, in the age of "European Romania"!", said the leader of the unionists, Bogdan Hossu, in the letter.

Unionists say that the new salary quotas will "silence the public sector workers" and turn them into "puppets" of the Executive.