More Power to Romania's Unions: A Buzz Interview with Șerban Pâslaru

A paradigm shift in Romania’s labor law granting additional powers to trade unions will likely liven up the area and lead to an increase in related mandates, according to Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Partner Șerban Pâslaru.

"There have been some significant developments in terms of labor law in Romania," Pâslaru says. "The Social Dialogue Law has been entirely replaced by a new piece of legislation. The amendments are not simply technical or fine-tuning, but introduce a paradigm shift in the field."

Paslaru says the new law restored, to a significant extent, the setup in place prior to 2011. "Back then, the previous law entered into force – Law 62/2011 – reducing the leverage of trade unions in society and diminishing their recognized rights and their capacity to influence employers' policies," he notes, adding that "the new law not only restored the previous setup but also introduced some key novelties."

"For instance, collective bargaining has been re-introduced at the national level," Pâslaru points out. "These agreements cover all employees in the country, including those non-unionized – irrespective of where they are working and whether these companies have unions." On top of that, he notes that "there are additional provisions enabling unions to initiate strikes more easily, even when the strikes are related to government policies or solidarity strikes."

This interview was first published by CEE Legal Matters (February 2023 issue).  Read the entire article here.