Central government, Bulgaria
National protest calling for pay rise
The CITUB confederation organised a national demonstration on 27 October calling for a 100 BGN (50 EUR) pay rise for all workers. The protest will also focus on the public services with the proposed budget for 2018 allowing for only a 5% pay increase while unions representing health and social service and other public services are calling for a 10% increase. Another slogan of the demonstration is protection of workers' rights as the government is planning to cut entitlement related to job security and sick pay.EPSU sent a solidarity message.
Tripartite agreement includes measures on pay in health and care
Trade unions, employers and the government have signed a major agreement which sets out a range of measures for the coming two years. These cover green and energy issues as well as plans to increase unemployment benefit and pensions. Health workers dealing with COVID-19 will see a 30% increase on pay for the period August-December this year, around 6000 employees will benefit. There is also additional funding for municipalities to ensure that the collective agreement covering childcare nurses is fully implemented. This will particularly affect workers in small towns guaranteeing that they
Unions secure budget and pay improvements
Protests organised by the CITUB and Podkrepa confederations have produced positive outcomes in the state budget with additional funds for a range of public services include provisions for pay increases in several areas. Municipal administrations will get BGN 30.3m (€15.5m) for salary increases while pay in regional administrations is set to rise by 10% on average. Workers covered by interior ministry responsibilities could see pay rises of up to 20% while employees in agencies dealing with social assistance, employment and labour inspection will see personnel costs increase by BGN 26m (€13m)
Pay and bargaining progress for health and justice workers
The CITUB trade union confederation reports that workers in regional health inspectorates and emergency medical centres have seen substantial salary increases from the beginning of December. Regional health inspection staff have seen pay rise by up to 30% while emergency medical staff are getting around 22%. Unions have been organising a series of protests over pay since the autumn. Meanwhile, the Podkrepa trade union confederation reports that workers at the Ministry of Justice are covered by a new framework agreement that strengthens social dialogue and ensures protection of workers’ social