SLOMR
| Full name | Free Trade Union of the Working People of Romania |
|---|---|
| Native name | Sindicatul Liber al Oamenilor Muncii din România |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Date dissolved | 1979 |
| Members | 2,400 |
| Affiliation | International Confederation of Free Trade Unions |
| Key people |
Ionel Cană, founder Paul Goma Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa |
| Office location | Bucharest, Romania |
| Country | Romania |
SLOMR (Romanian language acronym for Sindicatul Liber al Oamenilor Muncii din România - Free Trade Union of the Working People of Romania) was a Romanian free trade union founded, without prior preparation, in February 1979, as a means to oppose the control exercised by the ruling Communist Party during the country's communist period. Initiated along the same lines as Solidarity, created one year later in the People's Republic of Poland, it grew to about 2,400 adherents within four weeks, and was dismantled by the authorities of Nicolae Ceauşescu's regime, coordinated by the Securitate, over the next three months.
In January 1979, a group of fifteen workers from the shipyards in the Danube port of Drobeta-Turnu Severin approached Ionel Cană, a physician who had worked in Olt County amongst workers and had recently moved to Bucharest; Cană, who had already helped workers draw up petitions complaining about labour conditions, agreed to the men's proposal to set up a union.
The founding declaration, signed by 20 persons, was broadcast by Noël Bernard over Radio Free Europe on March 4, 1979. The names of the 20 founder members of SLOMR, with their occupations and addresses, were appended to the text. The document stated that the organisation, legally established under Romanian law, was affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Pointing at the declining work and living conditions and at the difficulties workers had in expressing themselves freely and defend their interests, the declaration indicated that the new labour organization was not backed by any political force, and that its objects were to ensure justice in the social and labour areas.
...
Wikipedia