Bucharest, 12 June 1997 (RFE/RL) - Some 2,000 construction workers marched through the Romanian capital Bucharest today to protest falling living standards and threatened layoffs.
Workers came from the major cities of Constanta, Iasi and Brasov to voice their woes to the government. Their action followed similar protests yesterday.
Trade union CNSLR-Brotherhood, which claims 1.5 million members, organized the protest. Protests were also expected in other cities.
The center-right government of Prime minister Victor Ciorbea has embarked on radical economic reforms hoping to take Romania to a real market economy.
In January, the government began to scrap all price subsidies and promised to privatize some 3,900 state-owned companies. Ciorbea has said some 100,000 jobs would be lost as a result of privatization.
Workers came from the major cities of Constanta, Iasi and Brasov to voice their woes to the government. Their action followed similar protests yesterday.
Trade union CNSLR-Brotherhood, which claims 1.5 million members, organized the protest. Protests were also expected in other cities.
The center-right government of Prime minister Victor Ciorbea has embarked on radical economic reforms hoping to take Romania to a real market economy.
In January, the government began to scrap all price subsidies and promised to privatize some 3,900 state-owned companies. Ciorbea has said some 100,000 jobs would be lost as a result of privatization.