With All Due Respect, About Political Unions

The Single Salary Policy Law concerning State employees was published in the Official Journal of Romania yesterday, along with the promulgation decree signed by President Traian Basescu.

Vehemently contested by the trade unions, the law has come into effect after all, despite lengthy hindrances that politicians created in the way of its application, in the form of many contestations filed with the Constitutional Court.

The Single Salary Policy Law (and two other pieces of legislation) were the object of the Boc Government"s decision to take responsibility before Parliament.

The promulgation of the Single Salary Policy Law is stipulated in the agreement with the IMF as one of the conditions for the disbursement of the third tranche of the loan.

No one is protesting that the Single Salary Policy Law has been promulgated.

It"s astonishing!

Barely a month ago, 15,000 union members demanded that the Boc Government resign over this law and the Pensions Law.

Union members coming from all over the country simply filled Victoria Square.

Two things they demanded.

They demanded that the Boc Government resign.

CNS Cartel ALFA, BNS, CSDR and CNSLR Fratia demanded to renegotiate the Single Salary Policy Law with "a capable Government."

Indeed, the Boc Government was below mediocre.

Today, its incapacity has become official, as it has been dismissed by Parliament.

So the unions got their first wish.

But not the second one.

On the contrary, the Single Salary Policy Law has been promulgated with the exact same wording as that which had originally sparked the protests.

However, no one is protesting anymore.

Whistles... drums... banners... slogans...

Where are they?

Nowhere.

No one knows.

What should we make out of this?

That the Law was not all that revolting?

That it was not all that important?

That, in fact, the unions only wanted the Government to resign and nothing more?

Meaning that unions are not interested in salaries, but in politics?

Ever since the Boc Government was dismissed, the only protests came from the 2,000 members of the Social Democrat Party who are also members of the Subway Union, led by a former Social Democrat senator.

They were probably angry that Basescu had not designated Johannis for Prime Minister.