Trade unions insist on pay rise equal to the subsistence minimum

The National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (NCTUM) insist upon the gradual pay rise equal to the subsistence minimum, NCTUM’s Chairman Oleg Budza declared Thursday, April 24, 2014 within the meeting with the representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The trade union leader specified the NCTUM’s request is to increase at a first stage the minimum wage from 600 to 1000 lei and further till the subsistence minimum value. At present, the minimum wage covers only 37 % of the subsistence minimum.

”Referring to the remuneration in the budget domain, it is necessary to increase the salaries of the teaching personnel. So, in 2011, there were no rises for this category of employees. Moreover, the education branch faces a deficit of labour force and the young specialists don’t want to activate in this sector because of the low salaries, being constrained to leave for abroad”, Budza said.

At the same time, the NCTUM’s Chairman stated that an important factor for the increase of population’s welfare is the decrease of the taxation burden and the non-taxation of the minimum income, which would ensure the existence of each person.

Simultaneously, the trade unions propose to reduce the tax rate of physical persons’ income from 18% to 17% and to introduce, with the beginning of 2015, a tax rate worth 25% of the taxable income, which exceeds the amount of 240 000 lei. At the same time, the trade unions are against the implementation in Republic of Moldova of a single income tax for physical persons. This fact will lead to the increase of the taxation burden for persons with low incomes and will exempt from taxation the persons with big incomes.

Within the meeting with IMF, Oleg Budza also specified that trade unions oppose the establishment of a single IT (of 20%) for all goods and services. So, the VAT should be applied differently for varied types of products and services, especially, for foodstuffs and services of imperative necessity.

Head of IMF mission Max Alier stated that it is natural for Moldovan citizens to wish a bigger salary and better life conditions, but this fact should reveal consequently with the increase of productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in the country’s human capital and the infrastructure in order to attract foreign investors.

”Unfortunately, the needs of Republic of Moldova exceed a lot the available financial resources of the country’s budget. We can not make big promises and not realize them further. But the trade unions’ demand and aspirations are legal. For this purpose, you should maintain the dialogue with the Government in this direction”, Alier concluded.

We remind that the last meeting of NCTUM’s board and representatives of the IMF mission took place on January 24, 2014.

Trade Unions Informational Centre