The SRR Administration Imposes a Signature Threshold on the Representative Federation FAIR-MediaSind, Which Law 367/2022 Specifies Only for Non-Representative Unions
The FAIR-MediaSind Federation will appeal to the Court of Appeal against the court’s decision to restrict the constitutional right to strike.
The administration of the Romanian Broadcasting Society (SRR) has today, October 31, 2024, received strong support from the Bucharest Tribunal in its attempt to block the general strike scheduled for November 5, 2024. Despite separate opinions from judicial assistants, the TMB judge upheld SRR’s request to declare the November 5, 2024, strik
In its application to the TMB, SRR management claims that the FAIR-MediaSind Federation should have met a signature threshold for November 5, 2024, which is not stipulated in Law 367/2022 except for non-representative unions. However, FAIR-MediaSind, a representative and negotiating organization for the SRR’s collective labor contract, falls under Article 147, paragraph 1, which states: “1) The decision to declare a strike is made by the unions authorized to negotiate the collective labor contract and that have initiated the collective l
Additionally, in its action, SRR references the disaffiliation of the SRR Free Union from the Federation, arguing that this would affect the organization’s mandate. This was contested in court, as there are two union organizations — the Romanian Union of Journalists – MediaSind and the National Union in Culture FAIR — that have given the mandate to negotiate the collective labor contract. In SRR’s skewed logic, if one of three organizations withdraws, negotiations should start over, a notion inconceivable in the social dialogue
This dangerous precedent regarding the restriction of the right to strike, both for the union movement in the Romanian Broadcasting Society and for the entire union movement in Romania, will be challenged in the Bucharest Court of Appeal and, if necessary, in international courts.
Additionally, the lawyers of the FAIR-MediaSind Federation raised an exception of unconstitutionality regarding the imposition of the signature threshold for initiating a general strike in the case of non-representative unions.
Consequently, until the appeal is resolved, FAIR-MediaSind Federation will comply with the court’s decision and reschedule the general strike of November 5, 2024, based on meeting the required signature threshold. Furthermore, FAIR-MediaSind Federation reserves the right to organize other protest actions with affiliated unions until the collective labor conflict is resolved with a collective labor contract in line with the standards in media institutions, particularly within the Romanian Television Society.
We will keep you updated on developments.
Communication Department of FAIR-MediaSind Federation
Bucharest, October 31, 2024
