Salaries Law: Pîslaru announces changes for Health and Education

The interim Minister of Labour, Dragoș Pîslaru, told Digi24 exclusively that the Pay Act is nearing its final form, after solutions have taken shape for the two sectors considered most problematic: Health and Education. According to him, the adoption of the bill now depends on the responsibility of political leaders.

Health: pay rises for over three quarters of staff

Pîslaru explained that mediation by the presidential administration had facilitated meetings with both party representatives and health sector trade unions. According to his statements, the current version of the bill is considerably more favourable than the one discussed on 17 July.

"At this point we have an advanced version for the Health sector, where we are waiting and hoping to reach an agreement that will be beneficial for the sector. Based on the calculations we have already carried out, things look much better than in the 17 July version. So the good news for those working in health is that, following discussions with the trade unions, the number of people who would benefit from pay rises is now over three quarters — that is, over 75% — and it may even be the case that fewer than 18% of instances remain somewhat isolated, where compensation would be needed," the minister stated.

Education: new pay scale and doubling of hourly teaching pay

For the Education sector, the minister indicated that discussions with the parties had already led to the identification of several solutions, and that the most important negotiation was taking place on the very day of his statement, with the sector's trade unions. A new pay scale is being proposed, with a substantial increase for teachers in both pre-university and university education.

Pîslaru recalled that these are demands that have been outstanding for three years. In 2023, Education saw a strike, and through an emergency ordinance it was promised at the time that the salary of a newly qualified pre-university teacher would reach the level of the gross average wage in the economy. The minister said that the current budget does not allow for the full implementation of this promise from 2027, which is why a phased implementation starting from 2028 is being considered as a solution to remove this final obstacle to the adoption of the Pay Act.

Other amendments for Education are also being considered, including the doubling of hourly teaching pay.