site.btaTripartite Cooperation Council Fails to Reach Agreement on Minimum Wage

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation did not reach an agreement on the amount of the minimum wage for next year. At a meeting on Thursday, representatives of the caretaker Cabinet, employers and unions discussed a draft government ordinance on the minimum wage. The caretaker government's proposal was for BGN 770.

Around 500,000 Bulgarians receive a minimum wage of BGN 710 at the moment.

Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policies and caretaker Minister of Labour and Social Policy Lazar Lazarov indicated that the ministry is ready to revise its proposal and make it BGN 780.

The new increase reflects the inflation rate, Lazarov explained.

Representatives of employers' organizations expressed support in principle for the proposal, but insisted that the minimum wage should not be equal across the country and should be sector-specific.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association head Vassil Velev said his organization recommends that the set amount be for gross salary.

Maria Mincheva, Vice President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, called for the urgent establishment of a working group to decide how to implement the European directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union.

Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CITUB) President Plamen Dimitrov stated that suggestions how income growth would lead to inflation should not be allowed. He explained that two-thirds of the inflation in the EU, as well as in Bulgaria, is generated by external factors and have nothing to do with the rise in incomes. CITUB calls for a minimum wage of at least BGN 850 to compensate for incomes undermined by inflation.

Vanya Grigorova from the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour reiterated that her organization wants to see the minimum wage raised to 850 BGN.

Podkrepa insists that the minimum wage must be increased above BGN 770, and then, according to a schedule, it should become 50% of the average wage for the country. "In this version, the proposal of the caretaker cabinet is unacceptable," Grigorova noted.