Romanian health workers union SANITAS calls general strike for late July
The National Council of the SANITAS federation, representing almost 100,000 health‑care and social‑care employees in Romania, voted on 7 July 2026 to launch a sector‑wide strike. A two‑hour warning walk‑out is scheduled for 20 July 2026 (09:00‑11:00) and, if demands are not met, a full‑scale general strike will begin on 28 July 2026 across all public health facilities.
SANITAS cites a series of government measures that it says severely affect staff income and rights: Emergency Ordinance 7/2026 limiting staff‑cost reductions to only some public units, Emergency Ordinance 36/2025 cutting hazard‑pay premiums and extra leave, Law 141/2025 restricting food‑voucher and holiday‑voucher eligibility, and the proposed Public‑Sector Salary Law, which the union calls “deeply unfair” and adopted without proper social dialogue. The federation also opposes the medium‑term structural budget plan (2025‑2031).
Key demands include restoring the salary rights defined in Collective Labour Agreement 1480/2023, reversing the premium and extra‑leave cuts, guaranteeing non‑discriminatory access to food and holiday vouchers, resuming real dialogue on the new salary law, maintaining a 15 % shift premium, keeping the 100 % weekend‑holiday premium, reinstating hazard‑pay, including TESA staff in the same salary annex, and aligning social‑care wages with non‑clinical health wages. A National Strike Committee with central, county and local structures has been created to coordinate the action.