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LAW No. 54 of 24 January 2003
on the trade unions
EMITTER: THE PARLIAMENT OF ROMANIA
PUBLISHED IN: THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF ROMANIA No. 73 of 5 February
2003

It must be specified that the only text which shall produce legal effects is the text in the
Romanian language.

CHAPTER I
General provisions

ART. 1
(1) The trade unions, hereinafter called trade union organisations, are set up for the
purpose of defending the rights provided in the national legislation, in the international
convenants, treaties and conven tions Romania is a party to, as well as in the collective
labour contracts, and for the purpose of prom oting their professional, economic, social,
cultural and sports interests.
(2) The trade unions are independent from the public authorities, political parties and
employers’ organisations.
ART. 2
(1) The persons employed and the public se rvants shall have the right to set up trade
union organisations and to join them. The pe rsons exercising independently, according to
the law, a trade or profession, the co-operating members, farm ers, as well as the persons
who are training shall have th e right, without a constraint or a preliminary licensing, to
join a trade union organisation.
(2) For the setting up of trade union or ganisation a number of at least 15 persons from
the same branch or profession shall be requi red, even if they carry on their activity at
distinct employers.
(3) No person may be constrained to be or not to be a part of, to withdraw or not to
withdraw from a trade union organisation.
(4) A person may only belong to one trade union organisation at the same time.
ART. 3
The employees under age, after turning 16 years old, may be members of a trade union
organisation, without being necessary th e preliminary consent of their legal
representatives.
ART. 4
The persons holding management positions , public dignity positions, according to the
law, the magistrates, the military staff from the apparatus of the Ministry of Public
Defence and of the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, Romanian Intelligence
Service, Protection and Guard Service, Foreign Intelligence Service, Special
Telecommunication Service, as well as from the units in their subordination may not be
set up in trade union organisations.

CHAPTER II
The setting up, organisation and func tioning of the trade union organisations

ART. 5
The setting up, organisation, functioning, reorganisation and cessation of the activity of
a trade union organisation shall be regulated by the statute adopted by its members, with
the observance of the present law. In the ab sence of certain express statutory provisions
with regard to the reorganisation and ce ssation of the activity of the trade union
organisation the common law provisions on th e cessation of legal persons shall apply.
ART. 6
(1) The statutes of the trade union orga nisations shall include provisions at least with
regard to:
a) the purpose of the setting up, the denom ination and the registered office of the trade
union organisation;
b) the manner in which the quality of member of the trade union organisation is
acquired and ceases;
c) the rights and duties of the members;
d) the manner for establis hing and cashing the subscription;
e) the management bodies, their denom ination, the manner of their election and
dismissal, the duration of their terms of office and their attributions;
f) the conditions and de liberation norms for the modifica tion of the statute and for the
adoption of the decisions;
g) the size and the stru cture of the initial patrimony;
h) the division, merger and dissolution of the trade union organisation, transmission or,
as the case may be, liquidation of the patrim ony, by specifying that the assets given for
use by the state shall be returned to it.
(2) The statutes may not contain provi sions contrary to the Constitution and to the
laws.
ART. 7
(1) The trade union organisations sha ll have the right to elaborate their own
regulations, to freely elect their representa tives, to organise their administration and
activity and to formulate their own action pr ogrammes, with the observance of the law.
(2) The public authorities and the employers’ organisations shall be forbidden to
interfere in any way for the limitation or interruption of the exercise of the rights
provided in paragraph (1).

Section 2
The management of the trade union organisations

ART. 8
In the management bodies there may be elected members of the trade union
organisation having full capacity of exercise and who do not serve the complementary
sentence of prohibiting the righ t to fill a position or exercise a profession similar to the
one used by the person convicted for committing the offence.
ART. 9
The members of the elected management bodies of the trade union organisations shall
be ensured the protection of the law agains t all forms of conditioning, constraint or
limiting of the exercise of their functions.

ART. 10
(1) During the term of office and within 2 years from the end of the term of office, the
representatives elected in the management bodies of the trade union organisations may
not have their individual labour contract ch anged or cancelled for reasons which can not
be imputed to them, which the law leaves to the employer’s judgement, unless there is the
written agreement of the elected collective manageme nt body of the trade union
organisation.
(2) The changing and/or the cancellation of the individual labour contracts, both of the
representatives elected in the management bodi es of the trade union organisations and of
their members, from the initiative of the em ployer, for reasons concerning the trade union
activity shall be forbidden.
(3) The persons dismissed from the trad e union management positions for the violation
of the statutory or legal provi sions shall be exempted from the applying of the provisions
of paragraph (1).
(4) The provisions of paragraphs (1) – (3) shall also apply accordingly to the labour
relations of the public servants.
ART. 11
(1) For the period during which the pers on elected in the management body is paid by
the trade union organisation its individual labou r contract or, as the case may be, the
labour relation shall be suspended, and that person shall preserve its previous position
and work place, as well as the length of serv ice, respectively in the speciality or the
public office held, according to the conditions of the law. In its position another person
may be employed only with an individual labour contract for a definite term.
(2) When the person in the situation provided in paragraph (1) returns to the position
previously held, that person shall be provided a wage whic h can not be lower than the
one which could have been obtained under c onditions of continuity in that position.
ART. 12
By collective labour contracts or, as the case may be, by agreements regarding the
labour relations, for those elected in th e management bodies of the trade union
organisations, other protection measures than those provided in Article 10 (1), (2) and (4)
and in Article 11 may be also es tablished, according to the law.
ART. 13
The management body of the trade union organisation shall have the obligation to keep
the record of the number of members, of any kind of cashing and expenditure.

Section 3
The obtaining of the legal personality

ART. 14
(1) For obtaining the legal personality by the trade union organisation, the special
authorised agent of the founding members of the trade union, provided in the setting up
report, must submit an application for regist ration to the court of first instance in the
territorial radius of which it has its registered office.
(2) To the application for registra tion of the trade union organisation the legal
representative shall enclose the original and two copies of the following acts:

a) the setting up report of the trade union organisation, signed by at least 15 founding
members;
b) the statute of the trade union organisation;
c) the list of the me mbers of the management body of the trade union organisation,
mentioning the name, surname, personal code number, the profession and the domicile;
d) authentic proxy of the special authorised agent, given by the setting up report
provided in letter a).
ART. 15
(1) The competent court of first instance, according to Article 14 (1), when it receives
the application for registration shall be obliged that, within 5 days at the most from its
registration, it examines:
a) if the acts provided in Article 14 (2) have been submitted;
b) if the constitutive act and the statute of the trade union organisation are in
accordance with the legal provisions in force.
(2) In case it is found that the legal provisions for the setting up of the trade union
organisation are not fulfilled, the president of the panel of judges shall summon to the
Council Hall the special authorised agent pr ovided in Article 14 (1), which shall be
required in writing to provide to remedy the irregularities found, within 7 days at the
most.
(3) In case the requirements provided in paragraph (1) are not met, the court shall
begin the settlement of the applicatio n within 10 days, by summoning the special
authorised agent of the founding member s of the trade union organisation.
(4) The court shall deliver a motivated judgement for the admission of rejection of the
application.
(5) The judgement of the court of first instance shall be communicated to the signatory
of the application for registration, with 5 days at the most from its delivery.
ART. 16
(1) The judgement of the court of firs t instance shall be subject only to the appeal.
(2) The term for appeal shall be of 15 days and it shall resume its course from the
communication of the judgement. For the prosecut or the term for appeal shall resume its
course from its delivery.
(3) The appeal shall be judged by su mmoning the special authorised agent of the
founding members of the trade un ion organisation, within 45 days. The court for appeals
shall write the decision and shall return the file to the court of first instance within 5 days
from the delivery.
ART. 17
(1) The court of first in stance shall be obliged to keep a special record, where there
shall be written down the following: the denomin ation and registered office of the trade
union organisation, name and surname of the members of the management body, the
personal code number, the registration date, as well as the number and date of the final
judgement for the admission of th e application for registration.
(2) The registration in the special record provided in pa ragraph (1) shall be carried out
ex officio, within 7 days from the date when the judgement delivered by the court of first
instance remains final.
ART. 18

The trade union organisation shall acquire legal personality from the date when the
final judgement for the admission of the applic ation is registered in the special record
provided in Article 17 (1).
ART. 19
The original of the setting up report a nd of the statute, on which the court of first
instance certifies the re gistration, together with one copy of the other acts submitted shall
be returned to the trade union organisati on, and the second copy of all acts provided in
Article 14 (2), in copies certified by the sp ecial authorised agent and endorsed by the
court of first instance, and it sha ll be preserved in its archives.
ART. 20
(1) The trade union organisation shall be ob liged to inform the court of first instance
where it was registered, within 30 days, any s ubsequent modification of the statute, as
well as any change in the stru cture of the management body.
(2) For the approval of changing the st atute the provisions of Articles 14 – 19 shall
apply accordingly.
(3) The court of first inst ance shall be obliged to specify in the special record provided
in Article 17 (1) the changes of statute, as well as the changes in the structure of the
management body of the trade union organisation.

Section 4
The patrimony of th e trade union organisation

ART. 21
The movables and immovables of the patrimony of the trade union organisations may
be used only according to the interests of the trade union members, without being divided
among these.
ART. 22
(1) The trade union organisation may ac quire, according to the conditions provided by
the law, free of charge or for a consider ation, any kind of movables or immovables
necessary for the achievement of the purpose for which it has been set up.
(2) For the immovables from the state housing fund used by the trade union
organisations as registered offices there shall be paid a rent corresponding to the
registered office of the parties.
(3) The units where there are set up tr ade union organisations which obtained the
representativenss, according to the law, shall be obliged to put, free of charge, at the
disposal of the trade union organisations the appropriate spaces for their functioning and
to ensure the endowments necessary for the carrying on of the activity provided by law.
(4) In order to build their own registered offices the representative confederations and
federations of the trade unions may receive, according to the condi tions provided by the
law, in concession or may rent lands from th e private property of the state or of the
administrative-territorial units. The rental or concession shall be carried out by an
administrative act issued by the competent authority.
ART. 23
The movables and immovables acquired by a trade union organisation according to the
conditions provided by the law, necessary for it s meetings, for its library or for training

and improvement courses of the members of the trade union organisations, may not be
pursued, except for those necessary for the payment of the debts to the state budget.
ART. 24
The subscription paid by the members of the trade union organisation, in a quantum of
maximum 1% from the gross income obtained, shall be deducted from the base for the
calculation of the income tax.
ART. 25
(1) The trade union organisation may, according to the conditions provided by the
statute:
a) support materially its memb ers in exercising their profession;
b) set up its own benefit funds;
c) edit and print its own publications, w ith a view to increasing the level of knowledge
concerning its members and with a vi ew to defending their interests;
d) set up and manage, according to the c onditions of the law, in the interests of its
members, units of culture, education and rese arch in the field of the trade union activity,
economic and social, commercial, insurance units, as well as its own bank for the
financial operations in le i and in foreign currency;
e) set up its own funds for gr anting assistance to their members;
f) organise and support materially a nd financially the sports activity in sports
associations and clubs, as well as cultural and artistic activities.
(2) With a view to carrying out the activities provided in para graph (1), the trade
unions shall have the right, according to the conditions of the law, to obtain credits.
ART. 26
(1) The control of the trade union organisations’ own financial activity, as well as of
their economic and social units shall be carried out by the commission of auditors
functioning according to the statute.
(2) The control over the economic and financial activity carri ed on by the trade union
organisations, as well as over the establishing and payment of the obligations to the state
budget shall be carried out by th e competent state administration bodies, according to the
law.

Section 5
The attributions of the trade union organisations

ART. 27
With a view to achievi ng the purpose for which they ha ve been set up, the trade union
organisations shall have the right to use sp ecific means, such as: the negotiations, the
procedures for the settlement of the litigations by mediation, arbitration or conciliation,
petition, protest, meeting, demonstration and strike, according to their own statutes and
according to the conditions provided by the law.
ART. 28
(1) The trade union organisations shall defend the rights of their members, deriving
from the labour legislation, the statutes of the public servants, the collective labour
contracts and the individual labour contracts, as well as from the agreements regarding
the labour relations of the public servants, before the courts, the jurisdiction bodies, other
state institutions and authorities, by th eir own defenders or the ones elected.

(2) In exercising the attributions provided in pa ragraph (1) the trade union
organisations shall have the right to undert ake any action provided by law, including to
bring an action to the court on behalf of their members, without being needed a express
mandate from the persons concerned. The actio n may not be brought or continued by the
trade union organisation if the person c oncerned opposes or renounces to the trial.
ART. 29
The trade union organsiations may address to the competent public authorities,
according to Article 73 of the Constitution, propo sals for the legislation in the fields of
trade union interest.
ART. 30
(1) The employers shall have the obliga tion to invite the elected delegates of the
representative trade union or ganisations to participate in the managing boards for
discussing the problems of professional, econom ic, social, cultural and sports interest.
(2) For the purpose of defending the rights and promoting the professional, economic,
social, cultural or sports interests of the members, the representative trade union
organisations shall receive from the employers or from their organisations the necessary
information for the negotiation of the collec tive labour contracts or, as the case may be,
for concluding agreements with regard to the labour relations, according to the conditions
of the law, as well as the ones regarding the setting up and use of the funds destined to
the improvement of the conditions at the work place, to the labour protection and social
utilities, insurance and social protection.
(3) The decisions of the managing board and of other bodies assimilated to these,
regarding the problems of professional, econom ic, social, cultural and sports interest,
shall be communicated in writing to the tr ade union organisations, within 48 hours from
the date of the sitting.
ART. 31
The trade union organisations constitute d by association, according to Article 41 (2)
and (3), at the request of the trade union orga nisations in their structure, may delegate
representatives to deal with the administra tive management of the units, to assist or
represent their interests in all cases.

Section 6
The relations of the trade uni on organisations with their members

ART. 32
The relations between the trade union organisations and their members shall be
regulated by the present law and their statutes.
ART. 33
(1) The members of a trade union organisation shall have the right to withdraw from
the trade union organisation without be ing obliged to show the reasons.
(2) The members withdrawing from th e trade union organisation may not request the
return of the amounts submitted as subscrip tion or of the amounts or assets donated.
ART. 34
(1) The members elected in the management bodies of the trade union organisations,
the specialised and administrative personnel fr om their apparatus may be paid from the

trade union organisation or in accordance with the provisions of the collective labour
contract.
(2) Employees of other units, as well as persons retired may be employed in the
specialised positions for which a higher quali fication is required, following that they
carry on their activity outsi de the work schedule.
(3) The persons employed according to paragraph (2) may cumulate, according to the
conditions provided by the law, the wage and, as the case may be, the pension with the
incomes obtained from the activity performed at the trade union organisation.
ART. 35
(1) The members elected to the manage ment bodies of the trade union organisations,
working directly in the unit as employees, shal l have the right to a shorter work schedule
by 3 – 5 days for trade union activity, without affecting the wage rights.
(3) The number of days cumulated pe r year and the number of the persons who may
benefit from these shall be establis hed by the collective labour contract.

CHAPTER III
The reorganisation and dissolu tion of the trade union organisations

ART. 36
The trade union organisations may be dissolved by the decision of the members or of
their delegates, adopted according to their own statutes.
ART. 37
(1) In case of dissolution the patrimony of the trade union organisation shall be divided
according to the provisions in the statute or , in the absence of such provisions, according
to the decision of the assembly for dissolution.
(2) If the statute does not provide the manner of the patrimony dissolution or if the
assembly for dissolution did not make a decision in this respect, the county tribunal or the
Bucharest Municipality Tribunal, intimated by any of the members of the trade union
organisation, shall decide on the distribut ion of the patrimony, assigning it to an
organisation to which the trade union be longs or, if it does not belong to any
organisation, to another trade union w ith a similar specific character.
ART. 38
(1) Within 5 days from the dissoluti on, the managers of the dissolved trade union
organisation or the liquidators of the patrim ony shall be obliged to request the competent
court, which operated its registration in the special record as legal person, to make the
mention of the dissolution of the trade union organisation.
(2) After the end of the 5-day period any interested party among the members of the
trade union organisation may request the comp etent court to make the mention provided
in paragraph (1).
(3) This mention shall be made on the page and in the spot where the registration in the
special record was carried out.
ART. 39
The trade union organisations may not be dissolved and their activity may not be
suspended based on certain ordering deeds of the public administration authorities or of
the employers’ organisations.
ART. 40

In case of reorganisation of a trade union organisation, the decisions on the patrimony
shall be taken by its management bodies, unless otherwise provided by the statute.

CHAPTER IV
Forms of association of the trade union organisations

ART. 41
(1) The trade union organisations lega lly set up depending on the criterion of the
branch of activity, of the professi on or on the territorial criterion.
(2) Two or more trade union organisations set up at the level of certain different units
from the same branch or profession may be associated with a view to constituting a trade
union federation.
(3) Two or more trade union federations from different branches of activity or
professions may be associated with a view to constituting a trade union confederation.
(4) The trade union federations and the confederations may be set up by the trade
unions forming a trade union.
ART. 42
(1) The federations and confederations set up by associations, according to Article 41
(2) and (3), shall acquire legal personality acco rding to the provisions of the present law.
(2) With a view to obtaining legal personality, the special authorised agent of the
federation or confederation shall submit to the county tribunal or to the Bucharest
Municipality Tribunal in whose te rritorial radius it has its registered office an application
for obtaining the legal personalit y, accompanied by the following acts:
a) the decision for the setting up of the federation or confederation;
b) the decisions of the trade union organisations to be associat ed in a federation or
confederation, signed by thei r legal representatives;
c) the authenticated copies of the judgements for obtaini ng the legal personality, which
became final, of the trade union organisations which are associated;
d) the statute of the federation or confederation which has been set up;
e) the list of members in the management body, containing the name, surname,
personal code number and the position.
ART. 43
The territorial trade unions, set up acco rding to Article 41 (4), shall acquire legal
personality at the request of the federations or of the confederations of the trade unions
which decided their setting up. For this purpos e the special authorised agent of the
federation or confederation shall submit an application for obtaining the legal personality
to the county tribunal or to the Bucharest Municipality Tribunal in whose territorial
radius the unit has its registered office, acco mpanied by the decision of the federation or
of the confederation for the se tting up of the union, according to the statute, the certified
copies of the statutes of the federations a nd/or confederations and of the authenticated
copies of the judgements for obtaining the legal personality, which became final.
ART. 44
(1) The competent tribunal provided in Article 42 (2) and in Article 43, as the case
may be, shall be obliged, within 5 days at the most from the registration of the
application, to examine:

a) if the acts provided in Article 42 (2) or in Article 43, as the case may be, were
submitted;
b) if the constitutive act and the statute of the trade union organisations are in
accordance with the legal provisions in force.
(2) In case it is found that the legal requirements for the setting up of the trade union
organisations are not satisfied, the president of the panel of judge s shall summon in the
Council Hall the special authorised agent prov ided in Article 42 (2) and in Article 43,
which shall be requested in writing to reme dy the irregularities found, within 7 days at
the most.
(3) In case the requirements provided in paragraph (1) are not met, the court shall
begin the settlement of the applicatio n within 10 days, by summoning the special
authorised agent.
(4) The court shall deliver a motivated judgement for the admission or rejection of the
application.
(5) The judgement of the tribunal sha ll be communicated to the signatory of the
application for the registration in the special record, within 5 days at the most from the
delivery.
ART. 45
(1) The judgement of the tribunal shall only be subject to the appeal.
(2) The term for appeal shall be of 15 days and it shall resume its course from the
communication of the judgement. For the prosecut or the term for appeal shall resume its
course from the communication.
(3) The appeal shall be judged, by summ oning the special authorised agent, within 45
days. The court for appeals shall write the decisi on and shall return the file to the tribunal
within 5 days from the delivery.
ART. 46
(1) The tribunals shall be obliged to keep a special record, where they shall write down
the following: denomination and registered office of the trade union organisations set up
by association, name and surname of the members of the management body, their
personal code number, the registration date, as well as the number and date of the final
judgement for the admission of th e application for registration.
(2) The registration in the special record provided in pa ragraph (1) shall be carried out
ex officio, within 7 days from the date when the judgement delivered by the tribunal
remains final.
ART. 47
The trade union organisation set up by asso ciation shall acquire legal personality from
the date when the final judgement for the admi ssion of the application for the registration
in the special record remains final.
ART. 48
The original of the setting up report and of the statute, on which the tribunal certifies
the registration, together with one copy of the other acts submitted shall be returned to the
trade union organisation set up by association, and the second copy of all acts provided in
Article 42 (2) or in Article 43, in copies certified by the special authorised agent and
endorsed by the tribunal, and it sha ll be preserved in its archives.
ART. 49

(1) The trade union organisation set up by association shall be obliged to inform the
tribunal where it was registered, within 30 days, any subsequent modification of the
statute, as well as any change in the structure of the management body.
(2) For the approval of changing the st atute the provisions of Articles 42 – 48 shall
apply accordingly.
(3) The court shall be obliged to specify in the special record the changes of statute, as
well as the changes in the structure of the management body of the trade union
organisation.
ART. 50
The trade union organisations may be aff iliated to similar international organisations.

CHAPTER V
Sanctions

ART. 51
The following deeds shall constitute contra ventions and shall be sanctioned as follows:
a) the violation by the members elected in the management bodies of the trade union
organisations of the obligation provided in Ar ticle 38 (1), with fine from 2 000 000 lei to
10 000 000 lei;
b) the violation of the obligation in Ar ticle 30 (1), with fine from 20 000 000 lei to 50
000 000 lei.
ART. 52
(1) The finding of contraventions and the applying of sanctions shall be carried out by
the personnel empowered by the minister of labour and social solidarity.
(2) The contraventions provided in Artic le 51 shall be applied the provisions of the
Government Ordinance No. 2/2001 on the legal regime of contravention, approved with
modifications and completions by the Law No. 180/2002, with the subsequent
modifications.
ART. 53
(1) The following deeds shall constitu te offences and shall be punished with
imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or with fine from 20 000 000 lei to 50 000 000
lei:
a) the prevention of the exercise of the right to the free trade union organisation and
association, for the purposes and within the limits provided by the present law;
b) the conditioning or constraint, in any way, having as purpose the limiting of
exercising the attributions deriving from the position of the members elected in the
management bodies of the trade union organisations;
c) the supply of data which do not co rrespond to the reality for obtaining the legal
personality of the trade union organisa tion, as well as during its existence.
(2) The criminal action shall be brought in to action at the preliminary complaint of the
injured person, in accordance with the provisions of the Code of penal procedure, except
for the offence provided in paragraph (1) c).

CHAPTER VI
Final provisions

ART. 54
The applications and the procedural acts of the trade union organisations before the
courts of law or the procedur al acts drawn up for these shall be exempted from the stamp
duty.
ART. 55
Within 90 days from the date of publis hing the law in the Official Gazette of Romania,
Part I, trade union organisations existing on the date of coming into force of the present
law shall reconcile their own st atutes with its provisions.
ART. 56
On the date of coming into force of the present law the Law No. 54/1991 on the trade
unions, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No. 164 of 7 August 1991,
as well as other contrary pr ovisions shall be abrogated.

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