site.btaBulgaria's Two Largest TU Confederations to Convene Strike Committees in January

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour have reached a joint decision to convene their strike committees in January and decide how to act further on.

The news was broken by Podkrepa economic adviser Vanya Grigorova on Thursday, after trade unions, employers and government representatives failed to reach agreement on the amount of the minimum wage, effective January 1, 2023, at a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation.

"Tensions keep mounting in a number of sectors. We managed to agree on a 10% rise in some sectors regardless of the caretaker cabinet's stubborn refusal to increase the minimum wage. These 10%, however, are extremely insufficient, and this rise will simply not happen in a number of sectors," Grigorova pointed out.

She sees a "build-up of tensions" cumulating with the ongoing energy problems in the country.

On Wednesday, CITUB also declared readiness for national protest actions.