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Romania
Index
As the official organization representing all blue- and
whitecollar workers, the General Union of Trade Unions of
Romamian
(Uniunea Generala Sindicatelor din România--
UGSR, see Glossary)
was the largest of the country's mass organizations, with
a
membership of 7.3 million in 1985. Headed by a Central
Council, the
UGSR consisted of eleven labor union federations and
forty-one area
councils, one for each judet and the city of
Bucharest. The
Central Council had a chairman, appointed by the PCR
Central
Committee, eight vice chairmen, two secretaries, and an
executive
committee of forty-eight members. In the late 1980s, there
were an
estimated 12,000 local union units.
The primary function of the labor unions was the
transmission
of party policies to the rank and file. The UGSR statutes
specified
that the organization would conduct its activities under
the
political leadership of the PCR; a similar provision was
included
in the statutes of the judet UGSR committees. In
early
1971, in the aftermath of increased labor problems, the
PCR took
steps to reform the labor union organization. Proclaiming
a
democratization of the UGSR and its component unions,
Ceausescu
promised workers protection of their interests and a voice
in the
appointment of industrial management. According to
Ceausescu,
democratization meant that the labor unions would serve
the party
as a framework for organizing consultations with the
masses and as
a forum where workers could debate the country's economic
and
social development. But UGSR statutes introduced later
that year
failed to reform the system, and labor unions were still
unable to
take the initiative in matters of wages and the standard
of living
(see Labor
, ch.3).
Data as of July 1989
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