In April 2010, after tough negotiations the social partners in the Bulgarian textiles and leather industry renewed their national collective agreement. The agreement was reached between the Bulgarian Association of the Knitwear Industry, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions in Light Industry at CITUB and the Federation of Light Industry at Bulgaria's second largest union CL Podkrepa. It preserved a pact on wages and jobs. The parties agreed that the minimum wage for knitwear workers should be not less than 110% of the national minimum wage during normal working hours. Also, additional paid leave for those working under hazardous health conditions and compensation for work carried out during irregular hours have been agreed. It has to be noted that the agreement is mainly followed in larger companies, although the government has formally extended it to small and medium-sized businesses. Most recently, representatives of the Bulgarian textile industry have stated that they have been overwhelmed with orders and had to turn down some of them due to lack of capacity. In July and August 2010, orders in the sector increased by 18 to 22%. The vice-president of the employers' association, Bertram Rollmann, said, "The problem is the lack of employees we lost during the crisis. We could employ up to 30,000 people in the next year."
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2010/06/articles/bg1006019i.htm
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=120226
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In February 2010, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CITUB) and the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa expressed their discontent with the implementation of the government's anti-crisis programme. They initiated negotiations with the six representative employer organisations, and in March the social partners submitted a package of 50 short-term anti-crisis measures to the government. On March 30, subsequent negotiations in the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) ended up in an agreement on 59 anti-crisis measures. The 60th measure was proposed by the government covering that the employer would pay for the first two days of sick leave and that the third day would be at the expense of the employee. The trade unions opposed this proposal, claiming that it violates the social rights of employees. In late April, the government frustrated the partnership just created when it tried to implement the 60th measure unilaterally and also proposed new measures for unused paid leave. This move generated fierce opposition by the trade unions.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2010/04/articles/bg1004019i.htm
The trade unions and the government have reached agreement on levying incomes of unprovided people, thus legalizing the non-regulated incomes of physical persons, as they stated at a press conference over anti-crisis measures. Yet, at the press conference a dispute rose over the proposed measures. Bozhidar Danev from the Bulgarian Industrial Association said that over the last 20 years many people received non-regulated incomes from the grey sector by not paying their taxes and insurances, and announced to discuss with the government whether to declare amnesty.
English: http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n213856
The government has said that discussions over increasing the pension age to 65, from 63 for men and from 60 for women, have been temporarily suspended. The Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Totyu Mladenov, stated that the government's priorities would be the start of health care reforms and the stabilization of the labour market.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/354;
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=113060
After some limited warning strikes, the strike committee of the joint railway unions has announced a nationwide strike unless the management of the state-owned companies agrees to their demands. Demands include being paid on time, receiving all social benefits railway workers are entitled to, and, most importantly, putting an end to the planned layoffs of 2,000 workers in the two state-owned railway companies BDZ (Bulgarian State Railways) and NKZI (National Company Railway Infrastructure). The unions are also opposed to the shutting down of railway stations and lines in poor regions. The Transport Ministry recently announced that the railways face a large deficit, blaming this largely on the policies of the former government.
English: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=108980
Trade union representatives were not invited at the August 9 meeting between Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and representatives of shareholders in the Kremikovtzi steel mill, union leaders Vasil Yanachkov and Lyudmil Pavlov told a news agency. Yanachkov, chairman of the Federal Trade Union Organization "Metalizti", saidÿ: "We have shown enough activism and we have impressed the society. Yet, we couldn't tell management, shareholders nor the prime minister what to do, though we will express our position." According to Yanachkov the right way to save the steel mill is through debt capitalization (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 2 April 2009).
English: http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n190591;
via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Bulgaria
Just three weeks ahead of the parliamentary elections of 5 July, the CITUB trade union confederation organised a national demonstration in Sofia on 16 June in protest at the government's failure to protect the poor, low-paid and unemployed in the current crisis. Workers from across the public and private sectors joined the demonstration. CITUB and its affiliates have criticised government plans to freeze public sector pay instead of implementing an agreed 10% pay increase, a step that will affect about 400,000 public servants. CITUB also emphasized the need to increase investments as well as to guarantee pension, health and educational systems. Vice-president of CITUB, Plamen Dimitrov, finally asked government to increase the minimum monthly wage to 340 leva per month (Euro 174) in July and then again to 400 leva in October 2009. The current minimum wage is 220 leva.
English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/312;
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/06/19/737789_ups-and-downs;
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLG80487220090616
The day after the Easter holidays workers from the Kremikovtzi steel mill have continued their protests, rallying over unpaid salaries and the imminent closure of the plant. The Federation of Metallurgy - CL Podkrepaÿ andÿ Metalicy, representing workers of the plant, accused the Bulgarian authorities of failing to act, and demanded the government to pay out arrears in wages (since November 2008) to the 5,000 Kremikovtzi workers as well as to provide compensations to 2,000 workers who will lose their jobs by the end of June. The executive director of the plant denied earlier rumours about the Brazilian company CSN, the only bidder, was not interested any more in the acquisition of the insolvent plant. However, unions are demanding from the government to render more active support and commitment in the search for a new buyer of the plant.
English: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=102938 via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Bulgaria;
http://www.imfmetal.org/main/index.cfm?n=47&l=2&c=19237&nb=2
Low-skilled construction workers will be paid no less than BGN 360 (Euro 184) a month in 2009 under a two-year collective agreement signed between employers and trade unions, the Bulgarian Construction Chamber (BCC) said. This wage level is 50% above the national minimum wage laid down per 1 January 2009. High-skilled construction workers will earn a monthly minimum of BGN (Leva) 540, while supervisors will make no less than BGN 770 a month. The agreement is aiming at curbing the grey economy and protecting the interests of loyal construction companies, BCC explained (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 1 No.'s 7, 8, 9 and 10).
(English: http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/minimum-wages-in-construction-increased-to-360-leva/id_33812/catid_67)
In discussions with employers' associations and trade union confederations on the 2009 budget, the government has stuck to its plan for an 8.3% increase in the national minimum wage from 1 January 2009, taking it to BGN 240 (Euro 120) per month. Earlier, the CITUB and Podkrepa union confederations had called for a 18.2% hike. (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 1 No.'s 7, 8 and 9).
(English: Watson Wyatt Data Services, New Industrial Relations Europe, 12/2008)