The Romanian leaders declared that since the entire Romanian population had participated in the uprising, they could not condemn Romanians to unemployment.
In fact, the fight against Ceaucescu had opened the way for the development of independent unions and organizations in the workplace.
"neo-Communist"
The goverment
(that is, the regime made up of people who had been reformers in Ceaucescu's
CP) used fears of "marketization"
mobilize workers against students and others who called for its overthrow in the name of anti-Communism. In fact, the students and the free-enterprise opposition had no chance of ousting the regime, serving at most as transmission belt for the pressure of Western governments. Now the government faces a potentially much more potent opposition.
Miners against students and price rises
Symptomatically, the Jiu Valley miners, who served as an auxiliary police for the regime in June against the students, have expressed strong disapproval of the price raises. (Le Monde, November 11, 1990.)
The Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which has been close to the government, has also protested strongly.
In an TV special November 3, Roman tradedebated representatives of five union confederations, arguing that it was necessary to convince the IMF and the
World Bank that Romania was "sol-
The government's fundamental argument is that there has been a disastrous decline in the economy since the revolution, and therefore it has no choice but to privatize. In its October 18 report to parliament, Roman said that in the first nine months of this year, industrial production dropped by 27.7% and exports by 46%. The latter figure is probably largely a result of the diversion of food exports to the domestic market after the revolution.
The price rises are scheduled to take effect between November 1, 1990, and the end of 1991. The first category is goods supplied by at least three businesses or manufacturers. They were freed on November 1. The second category, energy, fuel and rents will stay fixed until the Progressive freeing of prices planned
Controls on prices of necessities, including foodstuffs, were loosened on November 1. They are to be allowed to rise to a price ceiling that is to take account of higher production costs. It is not clear how much the prices for such goods will go up, but there are estimates that they may rise by more than 100 percent.
Between November 1, 1990, and October 31, 1991, workers and pensioners are supposed to get compensation from the state for higher living costs. By the end of 1991, price controls are to be ended for the second and third categories.
Also on November 1, the national currency, the leu, was devalued by 66.7%., from 20 to 35 lei per dollar. It had previously devalued in January from 16 to 20 per dollar. The black-market rate is around 100 to the dollar. The leu is supposed to be transformed either into autonomous administrations or commercial companies. Starting in March 1991 foreign investors will be able to hold a majority of the stock, or even 100 per cent, if they create enterprises.
government and the Western press present the opposition to hardened bureaucrats of the old regime. But so far the open fight against them has come from the trade-unions and other independent forces. A significant section of the bureaucracy at least should be able to find niches in a marketized system. For one thing, marketization gives the rulers a way out of being held directly responsible for the suffering of the population expected during the winter.
The minister of reforms, Adrian Seve rin, has said that in factory management, "We need people who have no vestige of socialist solutions in their minds." 2
In a sense, the government is right that it has no alternative to privatization. The bureaucracy has proved its incapacity to develop the economy. Democratic workers' organization would mean the rapid elimination of the bureaucracy root and branch, if it were organized on a national level. On the other hand, important sections of the bureaucracy can live quite a long while with a process of privatization and probably find niches within it. Dramatic decline in industrial production
The decline in industrial production that Roman cited in his report is typical of countries in turmoil. The problem is what is the long-run solution. The experiences in the USSR and the East Europe show that the suffering of the population will be increased rather than mitigated by privatization. Judging from the protests against the price rises, Romanian workers understand that. The difficulty is that that there is no political organization in Romania that represents their political interests, which could develop an alternative eco-
The "neo-Communist" government has now revealed its true nature as the expression of a fundamentally anti-socialist, anti-working class bureaucracy, a conspiracy of thieves who see their future in collusion with the well-established and more successful thieves who rule in the capitalist countries. *
1. See anile by Jost Alian Fraion in Le Monde ol 13
October 5, 1990.
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Sweeping