The General Union of Romanian Industrialists (U.G.I.R.) has become actively involved in the Romanian economy from the very beginning of the industrial activity taking shape.
Thus, a group of industrialists in Bucharest established the “Industria” Association on March 23rd, 1891, when the first actions were taken to encourage and protect the national industry.
On January 27th, 1903, the “Industria” Association became the General Union of Romanian Industrialists (U.G.I.R.) and, as time passed and the industrial sector developed, it has had an increasing contribution to the economic growth of the country, while using its own policy to impose a large number of legislative and administrative measures aiming at enhancing the Romanian industry. Especially between the world wars, based on a strong organization structure and benefiting of the brightest and the most powerful industrialists of those times, U.G.I.R. has boosted the industrial activity as never before, which meant a significant contribution to the growth of the national wealth and helped Romania win recognition as an important partner in the international trade operations of the times.
In 1924, U.G.I.R. became a founding member of the International Labour Organization in Geneva.
The Union has increasingly acquired international recognition, so that in 1940, UGIR had collaboration relations with similar organizations in over 18 states in the whole world.
Moreover, UGIR held a key position before and during the world war two. It permanently adapted its policy to the circumstances and thus managed to bring an outstanding contribution to materially support Romania’s military actions and to help the country reach total economic independence throughout this difficult period.
After the War came to an end, when the communists became the ruling party, the activity carried out by U.G.I.R. regressed much following some ruthless actions used to impose the mechanisms of the new economic system based on centralism and the state ownership.
UGIR was abolished in 1948, through a Decision of the Council of Ministers, whereas the members of the Union were subject to many persecutions and hardship, some of them being even suppressed. On the background of the changes occurred in 1981 in the social and political life in Romania, along with setting the bases to come back to a free market economy, U.G.I.R. resumed its activity on September 27th, 1992, when it also got back its juridical personality, because the was a need for the economic agents to get organized on professional criteria instead of political grounds.
The General Union of Romanian Industrialists – U.G.I.R. – is a confederation-like national employers’ organization, a legal person registered with the Bucharest Tribunal in September 1992, an organization which, given its status, aimed to resume the activity of the national employers’ organization U.G.I.R., established in 1893 and whose business was interrupted in 1948.
UGIR has got the following central management and representation bodies: the General Assembly, the National Council, the Permanent College, the President, and the Central Censors’ Commission.
Since it resumed its activity, U.G.I.R. has taken measures to promote free initiative and the loyal competition principle within the economic relations, in order to achieve a successful market economy in Romania, a real economy with mainly private equity.
In February 1998, U.G.I.R. became an independent employers’ organization, representative at national level, according to the Decision Tribunal Bucharest.
U.G.I.R. is an member organization of:
- The Alliance of the Romanian Employers’ Confederations
- The International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, headquartered in Moscow – a body acknowledged by the International Employers’ Organization
- BUSINESS EUROPE (through ACPR)
As a participant in the negotiation of the Single National Collective Labour Agreement, U.G.I.R. is a full rights member of several three-party bodies, such as:
- the National Employment Agency
- the Economic and Social Council in Romania
- the European Economic and Social Council
- the National Council of Professional Training for Adults
- the National Health Insurance Fund
- the National Pensions and Social Insurances Fund
- Ministries, governmental agencies, and prefect’s offices
UGIR carries out a large range of activities, such as:
- intervenes and applies to the authorities of the public and central administration, in order to protect the interests of its members,
- discloses information regarding the business opportunities in Romania and abroad, obtained from the UGIR database,
- provides financial, legal, accounting, and managerial consultancy,
- organizes business missions for its members,
- organizes training and improvement courses in general interest fields: management, marketing, finance, and accountability,
- organizes various actions to better understand the entrepreneurs’ role and contribution to the economic and social development of the country,
- organizes seminars and conferences focused on specific matters,
- organizes commercial exhibitions and fairs at county level.
UGIR also gets involved in performing the following activities within:
- the Social Dialogue Commissions (established at the level of the prefect’s offices and that of the ministries) and the “Social Pact” Monitoring Committee
- the Occupational Health and Security Council
- the National Indexing Commission
- the Alliance for the Economic Development of Romania – ADER
U.G.I.R. has signed conventions and long term collaboration agreements having concrete goals with employers’ organizations in countries such as France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Chile, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, and Kuwait.
These agreements set a favourable framework for developing the economic and commercial ties between the economic agents in Romania and in the countries mentioned above.
U.G.I.R. remains fully available and willing to create an effective unity within the employers’ actions, to support the main economic interests of Romania.