site.btaTrade Unions Prepare Joint Statement with Demands, Plan Protest

A declaration with social demands was prepared by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour. It will be presented to President Rumen Radev and the MPs of the 48th Parliament, which will hold its first session on Wednesday, CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov told journalists. He explained that in addition to income and social rights, the declaration contains demands and proposals regarding the Green Deal and energy.

Regarding income, the first priority is compensating all inflation by the end of the year in both public and private sectors in all possible ways and negotiating wage growth, commented Dimitrov. The main goal set by the trade unions is recovering the lost purchasing power in 2023.

Dimitrov said that the two trade unions are planning a joint protest action.

The chairman of the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour Dimitar Manolov stated that talks were held with the Minister of Energy about the need to urgently agree on some measures in the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience.  He said that the unions were aware of a bill that provided for two electricity tariffs.

Parliament must definitely adopt a budget, Manolov stressed. He also pointed out that for next year's budget, the trade unions will demand an 850 BGN minimum wage and a 12-13% increase in income.

At a discussion on Monday, CITUB and Podkrepa discussed the problems in the various sectors. Dimitrov said that talks focused on the actions that the confederations must take so that there can be real consequences.