May 29, 2017 UPDATE

Air traffic controllers in Romania, on open-ended strike as of Tuesday

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Newsroom, 29.05.2017, 19:48

LEGISLATION – The draft law on a unified pay scale for public sector employees in Romania has reached the specialised committees in the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making parliamentary body in this case. The Labour Minister, Lia Olguţa Vasilescu, is hoping that talks in this Chamber should be quick, so that the bill may be endorsed and take effect on July 1. The draft law, which stipulates substantial pay raises for public sector staff, was passed by the Senate last week. Backed by the parties in the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, as well as by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the bill is harshly criticised by the Opposition, on grounds that the impact on the state budget and the sources of funding of these salary increases are unclear.

STRIKE – Romanian air traffic controllers will be on an open-ended strike as of Tuesday. They are first and foremost disgruntled with the lack of a valid collective bargaining agreement and with the hiring freeze in the company. On Monday, negotiations between the trade union and ROMATSA, the company which has a monopoly over air traffic controlling in Romania, failed to lead to an agreement. Under the law, during the protests controllers are required to monitor one-third of the flights. On May 12, air traffic controllers had organised a two-hour warning strike.

HEARINGS – A special parliamentary inquiry commission carries on hearings into the organisation of the presidential elections of 2009, won by right-of-centre Traian Băsescu at the expense of the Social Democrat Mircea Geoană. The latter was invited to appear on Monday for the second time, after last week he said there had been a deliberate effort, coordinated by top-level civil servants, to influence the outcome of the election. Former state secretaries with the Interior Ministry were also heard. The former deputy president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Ana Maria Pătru, once again declined the invitation, after having also missed the hearings last week. The commission was set up following reports by a journalist claiming the 2009 election process had been tampered with by senior civil servants, including heads of intelligence services and the Prosecutor General.

BREXIT – Brexit negotiations will begin on June 19, 11 days after the British snap parliamentary election, PM Theresa May announced. This is also the date proposed by the EU for the beginning of talks. The European Commission will coordinate negotiations with London on behalf of the governments of the 27 EU member states. PM Theresa May initiated the official procedure for her country to leave the EU on March 19, and negotiations will Brussels will take 2 years at most.

FRANCE – Frances new president, Emmanuel Macron, warned on Monday that any use of chemical weapon in Syria would trigger reprisals as well as an immediate response from Paris, France Presse reports. He made the statements after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at Versailles, near Paris. The French president voiced his willingness to strengthen relations with Russia in fighting terrorism in Syria and pleaded for easing out tensions in the separatist regions in east Ukraine. This was the first meeting for Macron and Putin.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)