Police To Picket Parliament Calling For Thumbs Down On Layoff Bill

05.16.2011 By Ioana Tudor

The National Union of Police and Contracted Personnel (SNNPC) will picket the Parliament on Tuesday, in an effort to get the Interior Ministry layoff bill rejected, the union said in a press release Monday.

The protest was first scheduled to take place last Tuesday but was postponed for a week.

According to unionists, the bill will allow the layoff over 9,500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters, as well as terminate a series of rights to which they are entitled. In addition, they say, the bill is contrary to the Strategy for public order adopted by the Government through a decision in 2010.

SNNPC accused the ministry of feeding the Parliament's committees false information on the number of current police agents.

The union warns that the layoffs will affect the quality of public order in Romania and even the country's accession to the Schengen Area.

On May 2, the Chamber of Deputies committees for administration and for defense decided, in the absence of members of the opposition, to approve the bill on Interior Ministry layoffs. The next day, the deputies adopted the bill by articles.

The Senate has rejected this bill and the Chamber of Deputies is the deciding house.