Romania's SANITAS union launches nationwide health sector strike
The SANITAS federation announced a general strike of health‑care workers to begin on Tuesday 28 July, protesting the proposed Salary Law that would reduce wages, limit bonuses and exacerbate staff shortages. The strike is scheduled to involve roughly 400‑500 hospitals across Romania, but many facilities continue normal operations because they lack sufficient staff to meet the legal requirement of maintaining at least one‑third of medical activity. In several counties – Hunedoara, Bistrița‑Năsăud, Cluj, Prahova and others – only emergency and essential services are being provided, with some hospitals holding symbolic protests rather than full work stoppages.
SANITAS leaders, including President Iulian Pope, met on 27 July with presidential adviser Radu Burnete and the interim ministers of Labour and Health. The union accused the interim government of ignoring social dialogue, delaying the salary‑law project and pressuring hospital staff. The Ministry of Health responded by ordering public‑health directorates nationwide to monitor hospital activity and report any incidents that could endanger patients, while also presenting proposals to improve hazard‑pay, introduce performance‑based pay pilots and de‑block more than 7,000 vacant posts in the health system.
Negotiations with parliamentary parties are ongoing, and SANITAS has indicated it could discuss suspending the strike if substantive dialogue is achieved.
Entities: Alexandru Rogobete · Interim Government of Romania · Iulian Pope · Ministry of Health (Romania) · Monica Pop · Radu Burnete · Romanian Ministry of Health · Romanian interim government · Sanitas Federation
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 2 SOURCES] Sanitas met with presidential adviser Radu Burnete and the interim ministers of Labour and Health on 27 July. (d1ba72e0-227f-4868-adde-0ff71ebcd737)
- [● 5 SOURCES] The strike is expected to affect about 400 health facilities across Romania. (multiple)
- [● 6 SOURCES] During the strike, medical staff will treat only emergency cases. (multiple)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Sanitas says the interim government delayed the salary‑law project and only invited dialogue after a court decision. (d1ba72e0-227f-4868-adde-0ff71ebcd737)
- [● 5 SOURCES] Sanitas federation will start a general health sector strike on 28 July. (multiple)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Sanitas accuses the interim government of ignoring social dialogue and pressuring hospital staff. (d1ba72e0-227f-4868-adde-0ff71ebcd737)