THE Confederation of the Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and Podkrepa Confederation will challenge Budget 2004 at the Council of Europe if it contains proposed new conditions for sick leave.

The Finance Ministry suggested that from next year people who are on sick leave should be paid half of their salary for the first five days of such leave, not 80 per cent as has been the case up to now.

The intended protest was announced yesterday by the deputy chief of the CITUB, Plamen Dimitrov. He said that the limitation of the employees' rights contradicted the European Social Charter, ratified by Parliament. If this condition is approved, employees who get Bulgaria's average salary will lose four leva a day.

The trade unions also said that they would seek the assistance of the International Labour Organisation in their action against the proposed budget and the tax drafts.

In a letter of protest sent on November 16 to all floor leaders of parliamentary groups, Podkrepa and the CITUB warned that they would appeal to the opposition to move a joint no-confidence vote in Parliament if Budget 2004 was approved in its current form, without taking into consideration the demands of the trade unions. They also threatened to discontinue all forms of partnership and dialogue with the Government and employers if the budget was approved.

The unions described the tax and budget policy of the Government as unbalanced and its income policy as inadequate.

In implementing the policies, the state will grant 202 million leva to big business employers, which make up only five per cent of the companies in Bulgaria, the protest letter said.

The trade unions claim that the state will increase, not decrease, the current tax burden by 95 million leva.

According to the trade unions, this is not a matter of shortage of funds but of lack of political will to balance the interests of business and the public.

Last week the CITUB and Podkrepa organised a rally in front of the Cabinet office. They demanded the resignation of the Government over its social and economic policy. About 5000 people gathered at the rally according to police, but organisers claimed that their turnout was three times bigger.

Before the rally, the leaders of the two biggest and most influential trade unions Zheliazko Hristov of CITUB and Konstantin Trenchev of Podkrepa met the leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Nadezhda Mihailova, who said that her party would use the debate on Budget 2004 for one of its most serious political attacks. The UDF is insisting that the tax threshold be set at 120 leva, Mihailova said.

"There is a big budget surplus and the fact that it is not within the control of Parliament shows it will be spent in a strange way. We should oppose this," she said.