Paramedics Threaten Serious Protests Over Pay and Allowances

Public ambulance service employees are warning that they will launch serious protests starting next week if the Ministry of Labour does not amend the draft pay legislation. Their grievances concern pay disparities between counties and the reduction of allowances for field response personnel. Against the backdrop of recent assaults on medical crews, the federation is also calling for greater protection of ambulances and rescue workers.

Different salaries depending on the presence of university centres

The National Trade Union Federation Ambulanța din România is criticising the proposal to divide county services into two pay categories. Under the draft legislation, employees in counties without university centres would receive lower pay than their counterparts in counties that have such institutions. The union argues that operational staff perform the same work and face the same risks regardless of the area in which they operate, and is therefore calling for equal pay for all operational ambulance service employees.

Call to retain hazard allowances

A second issue raised by union representatives concerns the level of allowances granted for hazardous working conditions. The federation is calling for the retention of the existing provisions set out in Pay Law No. 153/2017 and in the regulations approved under Government Decision No. 153/2018, so that emergency response personnel continue to receive the higher tier of these allowances.

The union is calling for the new draft to incorporate in full the proposals put forward by the Ministry of Health, which it says have already been negotiated with employee representatives. If these demands are not included, operational staff are considering "radical action" starting next week, though the form such protests would take has not been specified.

Response following attacks on medical crews

The warning over pay comes in the context of incidents in which ambulance crews have been assaulted whilst responding to calls. The union is rejecting the misinformation surrounding the so-called "black ambulance" and is calling for measures to protect rescue workers and their vehicles, stating: "Public Ambulance Services are not a black ambulance to be assaulted and vandalised — they are the white ambulance that saves lives and must be protected."

One of the most serious incidents took place in the commune of Recea-Cristur, Cluj County, where a crew responding to an emergency call was attacked with stones, clubs, and axes by individuals who are believed to have acted on false information contained in a video circulating on TikTok, which claimed that a black ambulance was being used to abduct children. Several of the attackers were subsequently detained and remanded in custody.