Romanian Govt To Issue Law On Technical Unemployment Come Feb 1, '10

The Romanian Government will approve early February a draft law regulating technical unemployment as the main method of protecting employees, starting with February 1, 2010, in a fashion similar to the system applied last year, said Prime Minister Emil Boc, after talks with unions and employers.

"In order to get through this difficult time of economic crisis, we have agreed with the social partners that, in the beginning of February, we will issue a normative act that would regulate the technical unemployment issue, establishing it as main method for the maintaining of jobs, the same as in 2009," Boc said.

Romanian unions "Cartel Alfa", UGIR-1903 and CONPIROM have already asked the Government to extend the technical unemployment measures applied last year.

Unions and employers demand that the Government issue an emergency ordinance within two weeks supporting technical unemployment, as protection measure for the employees who are to be laid off.

The unions also announced protest actions planned for mid-February, including a large rally in Bucharest and strikes in several Districts, displeased with the layoffs announced in the public sector for this year.

mediafax.ro