The Ungheni district trade-union structure for teachers has joined the protest announced at the national level. The Executive Bureau of the Ungheni Territorial Sectoral Trade-Union Centre (CSRT) for Education and Science, led by Lilia Savin, met in an extraordinary session on 10 August and decided to back the calendar of actions set the same day by the Federation of Education and Science Trade Unions (FSEȘ). The reason behind the protest: the salary increases promised to teachers for 1 September remain, for now, uncertain.
Through its decision, the Ungheni structure commits to sending a letter of support to Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labour and the federation, and to taking part in the 19 August protest march, with at least two representatives from each primary trade-union organization, travel costs covered from the union’s funds. The decision also states one thing: participants will protest “in a strictly apolitical manner, putting forward only salary-related demands.”
What the trade union demands
At the national level, FSEȘ launched the protests after information emerged about a possible postponement of the increases provided for by Law No. 270, promised back in January 2026 for 1 September. The federation announced a four-step calendar:
- 19 August — picketing the Government’s headquarters, on the day the bill amending Law No. 270 is scheduled for a vote in the Executive’s session;
- 1 September — national protests throughout the month, if the commitments are not honored;
- 1 October — the possible declaration of a “State of Emergency in Education”;
- 5 October (World Education Day) — a national trade-union action, with a boycott of the official celebrations.
The trade unionists say that no compromise was reached in the Commission for Consultations and Collective Bargaining with the ministry: among other things, covering the period through compensation of 3,000–4,000 lei, depending on the teaching load, was discussed — a solution the federation considers insufficient. The core demand remains the effective application of the increases from 1 September and a clear timetable from the Government.
The teaching community expects concrete results, not false promises. Federation of Education and Science Trade Unions
FSEȘ president Ghenadie Donos explained that the federation is asking for a full-time teacher to reach a salary equal to the national average wage — around 15,000–17,000 lei — while the reference value used to calculate salaries has remained unchanged, at 2,500 lei.
What the Government answers
On the other side, the Executive confirmed, through spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici, that the increases will not be applied from September as had been announced, because the Government might intervene in the bill with several adjustments. The official position ties the new pay law to fiscal policy: first the rise in taxes and duties, then in salaries. The 2027 budget and fiscal policy draft was, at the time of the unions’ decision, in public consultation until 21 August.
It is, therefore, a dispute over timing and budget priorities, in which both sides invoke the same figures — the cost of the increases and the state of the budget — but draw different conclusions about when to apply them.
What it means for Ungheni
For the Ungheni district, the stakes are concrete. About 876 teachers work here across the 46 education institutions — all employees whose salaries depend directly on how this dispute ends. And the system enters the new school year already under pressure: the district has 73 vacant teaching positions, the fifth-largest staff shortage in the country, in a context where education salaries remain below the national average wage.
It is worth clarifying that the current protest concerns salaries, not the reorganization of the school network. The two grievances run in parallel but are distinct: on the one hand, the postponed increases; on the other, the “Restart in education” reform, which moves the administration of the district’s 46 schools from the District Council to a Territorial Education Agency, starting 1 January 2027. The 10 August decision targets the first thread — the money — even if it presses on the second.
The next test is on 19 August, when the bill amending Law No. 270 reaches the Government’s table and the unions take to picketing.