In Romania, members of the EFJ affiliate, the Romanian Federation of Journalists MediaSind, the Unions' Federation from Romanian Society of Television, the Free Union from Romanian Society of Television, have been picketing the headquarters and the regional studio offices of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company in Bucharest, Craiova, Timisoara and Târgu Mureş.

"The situation of journalists in Romania is disastrous and colleagues need a strong support", said EFJ President Arne König.

On 16 March, journalists' and other workers' protests will take place following the failure of the government to conduct social dialogue as a new Labour Code abolishes the current collective agreements in flagrant violation of European Directives and the International Labour Organization's conventions ratified by the Romanian state. In particular the new law foresees that:

- The conscience clause and the other rights acquired by RFJ MediaSind by Collective Labour Agreement at Mass-Media sector, as well as the Ethics Code, will be removed;

- Open ended employment contracts will disappear, creating large numbers of precarious workers;

- Employers will be able to hire several new employees with probationary periods for the same position and can require the employees to work overtime or change their schedule or reduce their working hours without prior consultation;

 - Employers can unilaterally change the criteria for measuring ‘workers' performance" and dismiss those who don't meet the new targets.

Given the serious impact the legislation will have on each employee in Romania, the protesters appeal to all 9,000 members affiliated to RFJ MediaSind and other media employees to attend the protest organized by Cartel ALFA, the Romanian Democratic Trade Union Confederation, National Trade Union Bloc, and other union organisations on March 16th, the day the Parliament debates the motion of censure against Boc Government.

If the new Labour Code passes the parliamentary vote, unions' representatives announced they will start the infringement proceedings against Romania by filing a new petition for the European Parliament.

Messages of support can be sent to: office@mediasind.ro

More info: https://sites.google.com/a/mediasind.ro/mediasind/comunicate-1/spunenucoduluisclaviei16martie2011-piataconstitutiei-vinositu

See also the report of the EFJ mission on 2-4 February:
http://europe.ifj.org/en/articles/journalism-in-the-shadows-the-challenge-for-press-freedom-in-romania

In Greece, on Thursday 17 March, Greek journalists will begin protests to protect their labour rights with a 24hour all media strike. Journalists will join other workers in Greek media, with the following main demands:
- Adequate Collective Work Agreements
- To protect salaries
- To stop lay-offs and  deregulation of working relations
- To defend the right of news information

Greek journalists and media workers are undergoing one of the most difficult periods in their history, confronting an unprecedented attack by media entrepreneurs aiming to deregulate working relations and trade union rights built up over many decades of struggle. 


Messages of support can be sent to:
- dralli@esiea.gr Journalists' Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers
- famellos@esiemth.gr Journalists' Union of Thrace and Macedonia