The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European group of the International Federation of Journalists, today backed Romanian journalists in their demand that the government respect the collective agreements it negotiated with journalists and other staff working for public media.

At its Congress on October 18, the Romanian journalists’ union MediaSind, an IFJ and EFJ affiliate, called on the government for a fair and rapid implementation of the collective agreement.

“The role of authorities is not only to create the regulatory framework for public broadcasting, but also to guarantee political independence and sufficient financing, which includes decent salary and fair working conditions,” said EFJ Co-Director Marc Gruber at the MediaSind Congress in Bucharest “We call on the Romanian government and the management of public media to put an end to an unacceptable situation and to respect the collective labor agreements already reached with the unions.”

The Romanian government recently declared that it was “unable to respond” to the demands for better pay that it had agreed to when it negotiated the collective agreement for Romanian public mass media. Covered under the agreement are employees of Romanian TV Society SRTv, Romanian Radio Society SRR and National Press Agency Agerpres, who are now working under precarious conditions that have made it difficult to provide quality programmes and to keep qualified staff in the newsroom.

The EFJ says the radio-tv fee for public media has been kept low for political purposes even as the media outlets have run out of money. The public broadcasting fee is lower than it was five years ago. Media workers’ salaries have suffered accordingly. For example, the current entry salary at Agerpres is 574 RON (153 €), below what was agreed in the mass-media labor agreement.

MediaSind is asking for a general 25% salary raise in public media, as well as the overhaul of the taxation policy of media institutions.

The union will start public protests on these issues on Thursday 23 October.

“The de-politisation of public press institutions and the adoption of legislative measures for diminishing taxation policy in mass-media are essential,” said MediaSind President Cristi Godinac. Journalists cannot work under fear, poverty and corruption.”

The EFJ is fully backing MediaSind in their struggle for respect of the collective agreement, political independence of public media, quality journalism and decent working conditions.

“We call on the authorities to act responsibly and show their respect for the agreement they negotiated and a commitment to public media free of political pressure,” said EFJ President Arne König.

At its Congress, MediaSind also adopted a statement issued by the affiliated unions of the Federation of Romanian Radio Society Unions and by the Syndicate 2002 of the Romanian Television Society asking for the dismissal of the management of Romanian public radio and television, which systematically refused to open talks with union in the past 6 months.

For more information contact the EFJ at +32 2 235 22 15

The EFJ represents over 250,000 journalists in over 30 countries in Europe