We, the participants of the picket, representatives of more than 284 thousand trade union members of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova, note the worsening social and economic situation of the country’s workers. Wages do not reflect the real value of the work done on a daily basis. The increase in natural gas tariffs at the height of winter will affect the entire population of the country and will lead to a chain of rising prices for all products, goods and services, while wages will lose purchasing power.
Those most affected will be low-paid workers, including those on the minimum wage, who will be unable to survive and meet their family’s basic needs despite the compensation they receive. Currently, the minimum wage does not even cover the minimum subsistence level of 5900.8 lei for one child and one adult.
In its efforts to become part of the European family, the Republic of Moldova has committed itself to bringing its legal framework into line with the standards of the European Union, including the EU Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, which should be implemented by September 2025, with the minimum wage reaching 50% of the average wage within a few years.
In the current year, the ratio between the minimum wage in the country and the average monthly wage in the economy, forecasted for the current year, is 36.5%, and in case of its approval in the amount of 5500 lei, it will decrease and will be only 34.2%, compared to the amount of the average monthly wage in the economy of 16100 lei, forecasted for 2025.
According to art. 2 of the Salary Law No. 847/2002, the amount of the minimum monthly wage in the unitary wage system cannot be lower than the amount of the minimum subsistence wage calculated for the last management period. Thus, the reference value for the calculation of the salaries of the workers in the budgetary sector must be set at least at the level of the minimum subsistence wage, which, according to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2024 was 2,926 lei for the total population and 3,120.3 lei for the able-bodied.
At the same time, we firmly believe that the country’s workers should benefit from the restoration of their working capacity, and we do not agree with the proposal to reduce the expenditure for the right to balneosanatorium treatment of insured persons by 10 million lei until 2025. The decrease in the allocated amount will lead to a reduction in the number of people who will enjoy this right, given that in the last ten years the amount allocated to ensure the right to balneosanatorium treatment for insured persons has remained constant (30 million lei) and the number of beneficiaries has doubled as a result of the increase in the average cost of a ticket.
In this context, we demand
1. That the minimum wage in the country be set at 6000 lei from 1 January 2025 and that it be taken into account when planning the state budget expenditure for 2025;
2. To increase by 35% the basic reference values (culture, social assistance, civil servants in local authorities, etc.) and the one used to calculate the salaries of teaching, scientific, academic, teaching, scientific staff, staff in the occupational group “public order and state security”, etc;
3. Allocation of 50 million lei to guarantee the right to balneosanatorium treatment for insured persons.