Government ordered to limit teachers’ salaries

Fekete Andras, the leader of DAHR senators, stated for Radio Romania Actualităţi that Monday the Coalition ordered the Government to take responsibility in Parliament for the law project which limits the increases of teachers’ wages.

According to the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Victor Ponta, the Social Liberal Union will promote a motion of censure if the Government takes responsibility for the normative document that stipulates the limit of teachers’ salaries.

He stated that in no state of law, under no circumstance, it can be accepted the adoption of a law which prevents the application of a court decision.

The social-democrat leader also said that the Government’s measure is an unconstitutional one which puts under the question mark not only the separation of powers, but also the democracy in Romania.

Victor Ponta also stated that, if the head of state issues the law, Social Liberal Union files a criminal complaint not only against Prime Minister Emil Boc, but also against President Traian Băsescu.

Considering that the economy can not bear at this moment a salary increase of 50 percent, the Government announced last week that he would promote in Parliament, maybe through taking responsibility, a project of normative documents to cap the increase of teachers’ wages.

At the end of a governmental meeting, Prime Minister Emil Boc said that "Romania does not afford today to pay the increase of the teachers' salaries with 50 percent".

The statement came as a following of the Parliament’s law adoption in 2008 which stipulated the increase of teachers’ earnings with 50 percent.

At the end of 2008, Tăriceanu Government issued an emergency ordinance that delayed the deadline for entry into force of the increase law of the teachers’ salaries and limited the increase to 17 percent.

The Constitutional Court declared the normative document as being unconstitutional with the argument that the delay of the increase affects fundamental rights, respectively the right to work, right to social protection of work and right to a decent standard of life.

Translated by: Lidia Enăsoiu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University