Romanian Hospitality Employees Protest Against the Restrictions to Work

Romania is one of the last countries in EU to refuse the re-opening of the restaurants. In fact, even Spain, Italy or France, countries which faced the worst during the COVID-19 pandemic, opened their restaurants, while Romania didn’t. Terraces are the only ones which have opened after the lockdown and this to the disappointment of an entire hospitality industry.

This is why the restaurant owners, organized in the Association of Hotels and Restaurants HORA, decided to protest against the restrictions imposed by the authorities. The protest will take place on Wednesday, August 19, between 5 and 6 pm. The employees will stop their work if hired at terraces and stand in front of their restaurants holding placards with messages for the Government to re-open restaurants.

Romanian hospitality industry hires, along with the related industries, almost 400,000 employees, most of whom being on technical unemployment since the start of the pandemic. According to the press release, the turnover of the Romanian hospitality industry for the first 6 months of the year declined with 70% and 40% of the restaurants suspended their activity because the Government didn’t open the locations in due time.