Romania Braces for Civil Unrest over Austerity Measures

www.istockanalyst.com...

ROMANIAN OPPOSITION parties and unions have pledged to protest over government plans to slash public sector wages and benefits in a bid to cut the country's budget deficit and revive its economy.

President Traian Basescu said officials had decided during talks with a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation to reduce the pay of state employees by 25 per cent from next month and pensions and unemployment benefits by 15 per cent this year.

Mr Basescu said the cuts were essential if Romania was to keep its budget deficit under control and secure access to the next tranche of a [euro]20 billion emergency loan from the IMF and other international lenders.

Victor Ponta, the leader of the opposition Social Democrats, pledged to combat the reforms "with civil society, the trade unions, with anyone who wants a future for this country, to object to this social genocide . . . in parliament, in the street, or anywhere it will be necessary".

Union bosses were meeting yesterday to discuss strike action

any of that sound familiar? its romania's turn to stand up to the IMF bankster led takeover.

www.infowars.com...
www.reuters.com...
www.wsws.org...

So cutting down the public sector wages and benefits amounts to a backlashing? Unions

We are losing good private section jobs everyday and the Public sector has risen in not only its employment but also in wages and benefits. I guess this is the grand master plan to throw all the entitlements out there and then have them taken away.

America needs to wake up, socialism always runs out. Free Markets don't.

[edit on 8-5-2010 by prionace glauca]

bump*

'The likelihood that we will strike is big as long as these draconian measures are not abandoned,' said Marius Petcu, head of CNSLR Fratia union, which represents about 800,000 people.

'I think in two weeks we will know whether we will strike. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people that need to be consulted.'

'Strikes are likely to happen and intensify, but at the end of the day I don't think they will seriously derail the change because...there isn't a real other viable option,' said Raffaella Tenconi, chief economist at Wood&Co in Prague.

www.xe.com...:25:00.0/1130769.htm?c=1&t=

www.setimes.com...
Angry Romanian farmers block government building

news.ph.msn.com...
Romania pensioners in the streets against austerity cuts

reply to post by TheCoffinman


I guess they are going to have to keep the Printing Press plugged in.

Making money outta thin Air, ain't Capitalism great.

reply to post by prionace glauca


Hate to break it to you but there hasn't been a free market in America since.................

America has had state corporatism/corporate socialism for a long time now. At least since the 70s. Government and corporations are in bed with each other. that is not a free market or capitalism. If America had REAL capitalism the stock market DOW would be trading at 6000 and AIG, Goldman Sachs, JP morgan, etc. etc. would have been out of business a long time ago. If we had a free market we'd all be using several different operating systems instead of crappy Windows. If we had a free market people like Donald Trump (filing bankruptcy and sucking off government real estate) would have gone bankrupt for their poor business decisions instead of being glorified as cunning and intelligent tycoons.

The situation in Romania is pretty bad, and it will get worse as time goes. The whole of Europe is a time bomb.