Bucharest, 8-9 April 1997
The ILO-CEET, in co-operation with the Ministry of Labour and Social
Protection of Romania, organised a two-day seminar in Bucharest to discuss
the law on collective labour disputes of 1991. This seminar was the third
in a series: the first two had dealt with tripartite agreements and with
trade union representativeness and forms of union representation at the
enterprise level. The latest seminar was attended by the representatives
of the major trade union confederations, the employers organisations,
the Ministry of Labour and the Prime Ministers Office, and was opened
and concluded by the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Labour and Social
Protection, Mr Dorin Parvis.
During the two-day seminar, the participants discussed in depth whether
it would be better for Romania to introduce a labour court system, or to
create specialised labour law sections within the ordinary judicial system.
Due to the changing nature of the employment relationship in Romania, the
current ordinary judges, who are competent for dealing with labour rights
disputes, are now overwhelmed by the number of cases brought in the courts
and are unable to deal with them adequately. During a long discussion on
this subject, and after a series of comparative examples provided by ILO
experts and by Peter Richards, Director of ACAS of Wales, the seminars
participants concluded that due to the current financial constraints it
would be wise to introduce specialised labour sections in the ordinary
judiciary system.
In this context, the seminars participants have asked the ILO to follow
up on this seminar by organising a tripartite study tour to a European
country where such a system is in force, to observe the functioning of
this type of system. This would assist the Romanian constituents in preparing
to reform the current judiciary system in the area of labour disputes settlement.
Meeting with Mr Victor Ciorbea, Prime Minister of Romania
Before the seminar, Oscar de Vries Reilingh, Director of the ILO-CEET,
and the ILO-CEET labour law and industrial relations specialist Giuseppe
Casale had the opportunity to meet with Romanian Prime Minister Victor
Ciorbea and his Cabinet Director, Ms Ioana Lupescu. The Prime Minister
appreciated the effective and prompt action provided by the ILO-CEET in
responding to the requests of the government and the social partners. Several
technical issues were discussed, including in particular the creation of
an Economic and Social Council (ESC) in Romania.The current draft law on
the ESC had already been discussed during an ILO-CEET seminar held in Bucharest
in February 1997, and some of the suggestions resulting from that seminar
have been brought to Parliament in the form of new amendments for discussion
and approval. The Prime Minister was confident that the law will be approved
before this summer. He mentioned that the law on collective bargaining
of 1996, which was also at the core of an ILO-CEET seminar held in Bucharest
in March 1997, had been modified following the suggestions made during
that seminar. GC
