Workers at Romania’s Finance Ministry thronged the building’s halls in a flash protest against a government plan to cut spending, a rare show of disobedience amid growing public anger over austerity.
(Bloomberg) — Workers at Romania’s Finance Ministry thronged the building’s halls in a flash protest against a government plan to cut spending, a rare show of disobedience amid growing public anger over austerity.
More than 100 employees stopped work and gathered at the door of Finance Minister Marcel Bolos, who is in charge of drafting measures to cut state spending and boost revenue to avert breaching a budget deficit goal that could trigger a loss of much-needed European Union funds.
“People have run out of patience and everybody can see that,” Vasile Marica, a leader of the public servants’ union, told local media Digi24 TV. “We’ve warned the government, the prime minister and the finance minister that these type of unplanned protests can happen if they go ahead with these measures without consulting anybody.”
More employees of the national tax agency also staged unannounced work stoppages in other cities, Marica said.
The ruling coalition has yet to finalize its plan to cut spending by reducing jobs and bonuses for state workers and boost revenue by rising some taxes. But groups ranging from business owners to the Balkan state’s health care unions have criticized the initiative, with workers threatening to stage nationwide strikes next month.
Romania’s budget deficit widened after the first half of the year as revenue collection slowed and expenses increased. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has signaled that the target of bringing the shortfall back toward the EU ceiling of 3% of gross domestic product next year may be at risk.
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