Minimum wage discussed at Government level: Dumitru Costin (BNS) says the increase is not a union whim

The President of the National Trade Union Bloc (BNS), Dumitru Costin, stated on Monday, following a meeting between trade unions and Prime Minister Luca Niculescu, that the issue of the minimum wage will soon be debated, with concrete data and figures, within the National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue. The discussion will begin from the proposal already submitted by the Ministry of Labour, according to News.ro.

According to Costin, Monday's meeting with the Prime Minister focused primarily on labour market issues. "I would start by mentioning the minimum wage, as well as a rethinking of labour taxation, because you all know that we have a problem with excessive taxation, particularly with regard to low wages. We put forward absolutely no figures this evening. Last Friday, we received from the Government the position of the Ministry of Labour and of the minister, who researched and analysed it in accordance with the provisions of national legislation," the trade union leader stated.

Costin emphasised that the mechanism for setting the minimum wage is transparent and tripartite, involving the government, employers' organisations, and trade unions, whilst also being predictable — unlike the situation in Romania two years ago, when each government applied different formulas depending on the circumstances.

"I must remind you that this increase in the minimum wage is not some wild idea dreamt up by trade union leaders — it is the result of transposing the European minimum wage directive. It is a minimum wage policy that must exist in every EU member state, built on a transparent, tripartite mechanism involving the government, employers, and trade unions, and it must be predictable — not like Romania was up until two years ago, when each government would come up with different formulas depending on the circumstances and political interests. It was complete chaos," Costin clarified.

The BNS President explained that the minimum wage increase is not an arbitrary demand from the trade unions, but rather stems from the application of European legislation, which has already been transposed into national law.

"As I mentioned, the Ministry of Labour has this obligation — every autumn, on the basis of public indicators derived from forecasts, to construct a predetermined value for the minimum wage. This will then be discussed within the National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue, which the Prime Minister confirmed this evening will be convened in the coming days — this was one of our requests. At that point, we will discuss matters with data and figures, starting from the proposal put forward by the Ministry of Labour last Friday and continuing with what we will be releasing to the public tomorrow: a comprehensive analysis of minimum wage determination, labour taxation, and minimum wage taxation," Dumitru Costin added.

The discussions took place on Monday at Palatul Victoria, during a meeting between the trade unions and Prime Minister Luca Niculescu. The trade unions are calling for the gross minimum wage to be increased by 675 RON from 1 January 2027, bringing it to 5,000 RON. Employers' organisations, with whom the Prime Minister met the previous week, are instead requesting that this measure be postponed. Trade union representatives are also calling for negotiations on the pay legislation, as well as separate discussions with PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu and the Social Democrat ministers within the Government.