The unions, however, insist on their own. This week, the leadership of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova met with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to present its arguments in favor of raising the minimum wage beyond the level approved by the government.
The minimum wage of 6,300 lei does not cover either the national subsistence or living wage, and in the long run does not allow for the accumulation of a minimum pension, the missing amount of which is covered annually by the state budget of almost 2.8 billion lei.
Sergiu Sainciuc, vice chairman of the confederation, considers this proposal insufficient, unjustified and not in line with the current economic realities, given the rising cost of living and the growing burden on workers.
“The minimum wage should correspond to the real cost of living and European standards of social protection. At this pace, the government will not reach the goal of raising the minimum wage to LE 10,000 by the end of its term of office, as stipulated in the Activity Program. The trade unions ask for the indexation of the basic rate applied to some categories of budgetary employees (2,500 lei) at least to the level of the forecasted inflation – 6.8 per cent,” Sergiu Sainciuc said.
At the meeting of the National Commission for Consultation and Collective Bargaining, the Finance Ministry presented its variant of setting the minimum wage. “In this case, the expenses would increase by only 130 million lei per year, of which about 50 per cent would go to the national public budget in the form of income tax, medical contributions and social contributions, which we consider as insignificant expenses for the budget,” the vice chairman stressed.
The unions also drew the attention of the IMF mission to the persistence of the phenomenon of undeclared work and payment of wages “in envelopes”. Trade union leaders are also extremely concerned about the consequences of the amendments introduced by Law No. 229/2025, which lowered the wage ceiling for hiring foreign nationals, thus facilitating the employment of workers from countries with lower wages.
To ensure equal access to social protection, trade unions demand the abolition of provisions limiting the payment of social contributions for foreign workers to those who have clearly expressed a desire to benefit from the social guarantees of Moldova as a host country. At the same time, trade unions express concern about the new rules on working through temporary employment agencies, which may create additional difficulties in the correct application of labor legislation.
