Trade unions require more money from the country’s budget for wages, pensions and strengthening social protection

The Social Dialogue Partners – government, employers’ organization and trade unions – gathered today, November 21, at an extraordinary meeting of the National Commission for Collective Bargaining and Consultations to discuss the draft Law on the State Budget, the Law on State Social Insurance Budget and the Law on Mandatory Health Insurance Fund for 2018.

Explaining the position of the National Trade Unions Confederation in Moldova over these three documents, the vice president of the CNSM, Sergiu Sainciuc, noted that as there is an expected increase in the national public budget revenues of 7.8 percent, must be allocated more money for remuneration, for the achievement of social policies that have begun to be implemented this year.

He said that the expenses for the remuneration of the staff have the largest share in the national public budget. Sergiu Sainciuc pointed out that without an adequate motivation of the employees, it will not be possible to stop the exodus of the labour forces in the country. That is why, the vice president of the CNSM pointed out, it would be necessary to elaborate and approve the draft Law on the unitary payroll system on the basis of the Concept on the unitary payroll system in the budgetary sector approved by the Government, that next year to proceed with the implementation of this legislative act.

There was also a desire to provide budgetary means to re-examine the amount of allowance for young specialists according to the increase in the consumer price index. Also in this context, it was requested to grant the allowance to young specialists in all areas of the budget sector to motivate them to work in the institutions they are assigned to. Financial means were required to purchase houses for young specialists.

In the debates on the draft Law on the State Social Insurance Budget, the representative of CNSM required to increase the rate of the allowance of the child up to the age of 3 years from 30 to 35 percent but not less than 600 lei for the insured persons , as well as the provision of financial means for child care up to the age of 2 for uninsured persons, so that the amount of 540 lei to be indexed to the level of inflation in the country, to be increased to 600 lei.

Due to the fact that, for various reasons, during the year 2017, 13 million lei were not used for balneo-sanatorium treatment, Sergiu Sainciuc requested that the amount to be transferred for the next year so that for the treatment of the employees would be allocated 43 million lei.

Speaking about the draft Law on Mandatory Health Insurance Fund for 2018, CNSM’s vice president insisted on the inadmissibility of lowering the share of the expenses of the insurance funds in the matter in the Gross Domestic Product to 4.2 percent compared to 6.1 percent, in 2009. In this context, there was an unfavourable decrease of the transfers from the state budget to the Mandatory Health Insurance Funds. That is why the CNSM insisted on observing the Law on the size, manner and terms of payment of Mandatory Health Insurance premiums, which establishes a percentage share of the total state budget expenditures not less than 12.1 percent.

Oleg Budza, president of CNSM, has proposed to differentiate the contributions paid by the economic agents to the state social insurance budget depending on the working conditions they create for the employees.

The partners in the tripartite commission approved the CNSM’s proposals and, as a result, the three draft laws were voted unanimously.

Department of Mass Media and International Relations