Romania

Organization responsible for the statistics

Directorate General for Labour and Social Protection, Department for Labour Legislation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Department for Informatics, Strategy and Reform of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

Objectives and users

To obtain information of the social partners.

Major users: trade unions, employers and the Government.

Coverage

Strikes and lockouts: The statistics cover:

constitutional and official strikes.

Unofficial strikes, sympathetic or solidarity strikes, sit-ins, political or protest strikes, overtime bans, working to rule and rotating or revolving strikes and lockouts are not included.

Minimum threshold: duration of two hours, which constitutes a warning strike.

Economic activities: All economic activities and sectors.

Workers: All workers with labour contracts.

Geographic areas: Whole country.

Types of data collected

a) number of strikes and lockouts: number of strikes;

b) number of establishments involved;

c) number of workers involved;

d) duration;

e) amount of time not worked ("time lost").

Concepts and definitions

(Source: Law No. 15/1991 concerning the settlement of collective labour disputes).

Strike: a collective, voluntary work stoppage.

Methods of measurement

Strikes and lockouts: The basic unit of measurement used to record a strike is the case of dispute. A strike which is interrupted and later resumed is considered to be a new strike unless it is due to the same case of dispute.

Establishments: The establishment is defined as the legal entity responsible for its own management and with financial autonomy and legal personality. The number of establishment involved is counted only for official strikes and warning strikes.

Workers involved: The number of workers involved is the average number of daily absences during the period of the strike. Only regular paid employers are counted. Temporary or casual workers, seasonal workers, unpaid family helpers and self-employed workers are not included.

Duration: The duration is measured in workdays or work hours, from the number of days on which there was a work stoppage. Duration measured in hours is converted to days on the basis of eight hours per day.

Time not worked ("time lost"): The amount of time not worked, measured in workdays or work hours, is the product of the number of workers involved and the duration of the strike. The shorter working hours of part-time workers is taken into account, as the hours not worked by these workers and converted into full-time equivalents. Overtime is not taken into account in the estimate.

Classifications

a) cause of dispute: not applicable:

b) outcome of dispute: not applicable;

c) method of settlement: not applicable;

d) economic activity;

e) occupational group: not applicable;

f) number of establishments involved:

g) number of workers involved;

h) duration;

i) time not worked: not applicable.

Reference period and periodicity

The statistics are compiled for periods of one year. They relate to strikes beginning during the reference period as well as those continuing from the previous period.

Analytical measures

Amount of time not worked per 1,000 workers.

Historical background of the series

The statistics were first compiled in 1991. The legal basis is represented by the Law no. 15/1991 on the settlement of disputes. A draft law on alteration of the Law no. 15/1991 has been finalized after consultations with trade unions and employers. The draft law contains some major alterations such as:

introducing new ways of settlement of labour disputes (mediation and arbitration);
regulations concerning the solidarity strikes;
regulations concerning the strikes at group, branch, and national level;
diminution of restrictions concerning certain activities.

Documentation

Series available: not available.

Bibliographic references: The data are published in:

Ministry of Labour and Social Protection: National Bulletin on Labour and Social Protection.

The data are available on diskette, upon request.

Data published by the ILO: The following data are furnished regularly to the ILO for publication the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, relating to strikes according to economic activity: number of strikes, number of workers involved and number of days not worked and rates of days not worked per 1,000 workers.

Confidentiality: There are no restrictions on the publication or release of data.

International standards

The current ILO statistical standards and guidelines were followed when the statistical system was established. Representative organization of employers and workers were consulted when the concepts, definitions and methods used for collecting, compiling the statistics were designed.

Methods of data collection

There is no legal obligation to report the occurrence of a strike. The regional Directorates for Labour and Social Protection obtain the main information from the trade unions or employers and send it in special file to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Labour Legislation Department.