The members of the General Council of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (CNSM) express their deep concern and disapprove of the lack of transparency and consultations in the process of drafting the State Budget Law, the Law on the State Social Insurance Budget for 2026, and the Law amending Law no. 270/2018 on the unified salary system in the public sector.
We note that in the drafting and promotion of these legislative projects, which have a major impact on the rights and guarantees of workers, the principles of decision-making transparency, provided in Article 11 of Law no. 239/2008 on transparency in the decision-making process, were not respected. Furthermore, the budgetary calendar set by the Law on Public Finance and Fiscal-Budgetary Responsibility no. 181/2014, as well as the participation of social partners in the decision-making process, according to Law no. 245/2006 on the organization and functioning of the National Commission for Consultations and Collective Bargaining, the branch-level and territorial commissions for consultations and collective bargaining, and the Trade Union Law no. 1129/2000, were not observed.
We consider it unacceptable that trade unions are ignored in the consultation process of the aforementioned draft laws, which leads to the omission of workers’ rights to a decent standard of living, the promotion of adequate wage policies, and the support of vulnerable groups.
We note that the draft State Budget Law for 2026 provides only for an increase of the reference value from 2,200 MDL to 2,400 MDL. However, for the vast majority of public sector workers with low wages (those falling within salary grades 1 to 25, including teaching, scientific-teaching, scientific and management staff in educational institutions, professional parental assistants, personal assistants, community social workers, medical staff in budgetary units, personnel in administrative authorities and institutions under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc.), who are paid based on the reference value of 2,500 MDL, no change is foreseen.
Similarly, we note that the minimum wage is set to increase only to 6,300 MDL, which does not ensure the implementation of Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union and compromises our European aspirations.
We reiterate that the lack of consultations and the failure to follow the procedures provided by the legal framework on social dialogue undermines social dialogue, a key element for the functioning of a democratic society within the European space.
In this context, the members of the CNSM General Council request the Government and the Parliament to:
- Comply with Article 5(3) of Law no. 245/2006 regarding the organization and functioning of the National Commission for Consultations and Collective Bargaining, as well as branch-level and territorial commissions for consultations and collective bargaining, which stipulates that draft normative acts must be coordinated with the National Commission, and its opinion must accompany the respective drafts until their adoption;
- Index the reference value of 2,500 MDL at least to the level of inflation forecasted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, in accordance with Article 12(15) of Law no. 270/2018;
- Ensure fairness for all workers remunerated based on Law no. 270/2018 on the unified salary system in the public sector when amending it;
- Increase the national minimum wage in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union.
