Trade unions and the amendment of the labour code in Romania

Abstract

Employment relations, as well as issues of social and labour-market reforms or the social dialogue, have been extensively treated by various researches interested in the East and Central European region. In this context, much attention has been paid to the changing roles of trade unions, the problem of re-making ancient structures perverted by their more or less collaboration with the Communist parties from the region and the emergence of new structures in search for legitimisation, the difficulties of trade unionism in articulating and representing interests, an aspect that is directly related to their organisational problems, the relations with the governmental authorities and with the employers' organisations in the tripartite framework, as well as the nature of the tripartism in reuniting social partners and state. This article focuses on national organised labour in Romania in relation to the 2005 Labour Code amendment. This specific level of national interest representation is privileged in order to highlight the peculiarities of recognised representative labour organisations in the post-Communist period. The main assumption is that trade unions are facing a particular policy interest with a shift from fragmentation and unstable co-operation to a 'common position'. Thus this contribution assesses the determinants defining labour's collaboration while shedding light on state -trade union relations.

International actors and trade unions during postsocialism and after: the case of Romania

“…Facing such pressure, the same government that had just helped trade unions obtain their most important post-1989 victory backed down and committed to change the Labour Code (IMF, 2003b, c). The task would nonetheless be passed on to the next government, which was explicitly more right wing and had close connections to the employers’ movement (see Pilat, 2006, p. 196). In a Memorandum of Understanding with the IMF from June 2004, the new government promised a “comprehensive overhaul” of the Labour Code, “which will be agreed upon with the WB within the framework of the EU acquis , and be submitted to Parliament by end-March 2005”(IMF, 2004a).…”

The European Economic and Social Committee after Enlargement

“…Trade unions have moved from a monistic system controlled by the communist party to a situation of excessive pluralism in which they seem more concerned about competing with each other than understanding their role. This has been accompanied by a strong decline in unionisation (see Ost 2000 andPilat 2006). In their turn, employers' organisations tend to represent mainly the interests of the big enterprises, with a focus on lobbying rather than engaging in bipartite dialogue with trade unions, and often lacking the authorization of their affiliates to undertake binding commitments.…”