Collective Action and Strikes in Interwar Romania

Contributed by Alex Lita (Babeș-Bolyai University)

The Romanian Kingdom (1866-1918) had a predominantly rural economy, with agriculture as the main economic sector, nurturing unfree social relations (not only working conditions) coined by Dobrogeanu-Gherea, a Romanian marxist thinker, as “neo-serfdom” [“Neoiobăgie” in Romanian]. The “neo-serfdom” working regime is defined as working relations between landowners and peasants with a certain amount of unpaid days provided by the former generally for planting, harvesting, etc. These social relations along with 1906 drought led to a severe hunger that created the conditions of the peasant uprising in 1907. The peasant uprising was one of the few collective actions in the space occupied by the Romanian state. Industrial capitalism did not feed significant collective actions before 1918, despite the fact trade unionists such as Ștefan Gheorghiu (1879-1914) unwaveringly promoted decentralized trade unionism in the main industrial centers.

As a consequence of capitalist development and annexing industrialized territories (Transilvania, Banat), the most significant period in terms of strikes and collective actions is the period between 1918 and 1938. This period included one of largest and bloodiest collective actions in the history of Romania: The Printers’ Strike of 1918, the Lupeni Miners’ Strike of 1929, and the CFR Grivita Workshop Strike of 1933.

The Printers’ Strike – December 13/26*, 1918

The Printers’ Strike was a collective action that took place in Bucharest on December 13/26, 1918. The prelude of the Printers’ Strike began in the first days of December when various workers’ unions declared strikes, claiming better working and payment conditions and a shorter working day. On December 6/19, printers from Bucharest went on strike for the first time, yet their demands were unheard. Given the lack of any management or state reaction to the strikes, on December 13/26, hundreds of workers stopped work and took to the streets and marched towards the Industry and Commerce Ministry. Workers from other factories joined the march in solidarity, and according to some sources, the protesting crowd grew to 15 000 people.

The protesters were met with violence on Victory Street, in front of the National Theatre (currently Novotel hotel), where the army shot the protesters. According to newspapers of the time, up to 102 deaths, tens of injured people and over 200 arrests were reported. Among the injured (and later on arrested people) was I.C. Frimu, a leader of the trade unionist movement, who later died in police custody. Socialists were considered the author of the strike and as a consequence, next day the Socialist newspaper was banned, as well as socialist controlled places.

*The first date is according to the Julian calendar, while the second is according to the Gregorian calendar. The date difference is due to the fact that Romania had been using the Julian calendar before 1919.

The Lupeni Strike – August 6, 1929

The Lupeni Strike is another bloody episode in Romania’s workers history, which happened on premises created by the severe exploitation faced by miners in the Jiu Valley (where Lupeni is located), the main coal mining site in Romania. The miners were demanding an 8-hour working day, a 40% wage increase, and, for miners working underground working equipment and uniforms. Importantly, the strikers were also demanding to stop child labour in mines.

In the last days of July and first days of August 1929 a fervent movement for workers’ rights was boiling in Jiu Valley. After several attempts of protest were suppressed by the authorities, the miners from Lupeni refused to start work on the morning of August 5th. Around 4 000 miners marched towards the city center, and eventually occupied the electrical plant. Riot police was dispatched to Lupeni late at the night on that day, and on August 6th early in the morning, they stormed the electrical plant occupied by the miners and opened fire on protesters. The miners replied by throwing stones, but eventually retreated and lost control over the electrical plant. 20 miners were reported dead and over 150 injured, with some miners running into the forest to save their lives.

The CFR Grivita Workshops Strike – February 16, 1933

The austerity measures introduces by the Romanian government in 1932-1933 hit workers from various industries. For CFR Grivita (Bucharest) railway workers, this measure translated into benefit cuts, meaning an approximately 25% cut in pay. In this context, workers organized on February1st, protested and handed in a list of demands to the employer. The demands were left unanswered. Some sources claim that during that day a conflict between communists and social democrats occurred on the topic of strike tactics. On February 15 a delegation which comprised members of the communist party bargained with the employers. Around 4 000 workers were occupying the workshop during negotiations and stayed overnight starting the alarm periodically to mark the control over the workplace. As some demands were considered by employers “dangerous” the Romanian Parliament voted to limit the rights on the area in order to better control the strike.

The situation escalated and clashes between workers and the army took place, while arrests were operated by the police. In the morning of February 16, the army entered the workshops occupied by the workers and attacked the strikers. 7 workers were killed, tens injured and many more arrested. This event remained significant in Romania’s popular history due to the communist regime propaganda, which celebrated this as a moment strongly tied to communist leaders.