site.btaAbout 2,000 Protest in Bucharest Against Bill on Public Pension System

About 2,000 people from all over Romania protested on Thursday in Victory Square in front of the government building in Bucharest. Police officers, reservists, miners, farmers, foresters, forestry workers, defence ministry civil servants, railway employees, non-medical and medical staff, airport staff, non-teaching staff and representatives of other sectors chanted "Thieves", "Down with the government" and "Romania, wake up".

Protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the new fiscal measures of the government of Marcel Ciolacu and the new bill on the public pension system, which provides for recalculation of the pensions of more than 4.7 million Romanians according to a new formula. According to the trade unionists, if adopted, the new pension act will abolish existing rights provided for in the occupational statutes of various categories of personnel regarding retirement conditions. The draft law also foresees to gradually equalise the retirement age of men and women at 65 by 2030.

Demonstrators carried whistles, vuvuzelas, megaphones and drums and waved placards with slogans such as "We can't risk our lives, honesty and health until 65", "Governments come and go, everyone forgets about the railways", "The government wants to retire us after we die", "We want to work, we don't want to die", "We want decent wages and pensions", "It can't go on like this".

The people have warned to blockade Bucharest for the winter holidays and the country's railways if they are not heard by the government.

There were demonstrations in several other cities in Romania on Thursday.