Restaurants and bars in Romania will close for one hour on Wednesday, August 19, and their employees will protest against the restrictions imposed by the Government, the Association of Hotels and Restaurants HORA announced on Monday.

“As the HORECA industry in Romania is facing an unprecedented crisis, we feel obliged to take a firm stand and organize a peaceful protest by suspending the activity, Wednesday, August 19, between 17:00 and 18:00. We will comply with all the sanitary provisions in force during this action. Both employees and industry partners will participate in the protest. We resort to this solution because the numerous calls made by HORA to the Government went unanswered and the responsibility we have towards our employees cannot leave us indifferent,” HORA said in a press release.

The association points out that the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions enforced by the authorities have led to a 70% drop in the turnover of local restaurants and bars in the first six months of the year. Moreover, 40% of the operators have suspended their activity. This situation impacts 400,000 employees in this sector.

HORA considers that the Government’s decision to keep indoor restaurants closed is unfair and points to other EU countries where restaurants have reopened under strict safety measures without a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 infection cases.

“There are no arguments for blocking this sector and the current Government is responsible for destroying the HORECA sector through measures totally disproportionate to the real situation. Some 400,000 employees are directly affected by these unjustified restrictions,” HORA concluded.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Cristi Croitoru/Dreamstime.com)