Radu Stochita is a trade union activist at Cartel ALFA in Romania.
During Romania’s transition to capitalism, the Jiu Valley miners violently resisted the destruction of their industry. But today, their jobs are mostly gone — and the plague of slot machines has taken over long-proud mining communities.
Cyprus’s minimum wage doesn’t apply to students — hurting the young migrants who have to work to pay their university fees. Last month, food-delivery riders went on strike, exposing how student visas force people into casual, low-paid work.
Romanian lawmakers have called for a three-day weekend — but with the existing 40-hour workweek now crammed into four shifts. The situation shows how reorganizing the workweek can hurt workers’ interests if they don’t have a say in the process.
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has already forced 1 million people to flee the country. Across Eastern Europe, organized labor is helping to welcome refugees.
The death of five people in a Bucharest hospital fire is the latest illustration of how neoliberal shock therapy has run down Romania’s public services. For the labor protesters who have been in the streets since January, the blaze only confirms their message: Romania has to invest in its own public services, not just rely on remittances from abroad.