Police officers will gather on March 20 2010 in Sofia outside the Ivan Vazov national theatre for another protest against poor working conditions and low salaries, the Federation of Interior Ministry’s Employees (FIME) said on March 12 2010.

At the rally, which is scheduled to start at noon, police will demand higher salaries that they believe are more compatible with the responsibilities and risks they confront. Police officers also demand an improvement to their working conditions, noting, for example, that they have been forced to save petrol.

The protest follows unfulfilled promises from the Interior Ministry’s leadership and a lack of concrete results from FIME’s meeting with Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, FIME said on its website.   

In February 2010, FIME sent Borissov a letter with 11 demands regarding police officers' working conditions and salaries.

Over the past year, police officers have staged several gatherings outside the Interior Ministry building to protest against low salaries and poor working conditions.

In September 2009, several hundred police officers and their relatives gathered on Sofia’s Sveta Nedelya square to demand tougher punishment for those who attack police and also against police officers who abuse their power.
 
The gathering was spurred by several recent cases of attacks on police officers as well as court sentences that police believe were too lenient. This was the first gathering of off-duty police officers since Borissov's Government took office in July 2009.
  
By law, police officers on duty cannot organise any form of public protest, hence the protests were dubbed "gatherings".

The March 20 2010 police protests mark another protest by trade unions against low salaries and delayed payments. On March 11 2010, family doctors ended their nationwide strike.

Doctors complained they have not been paid by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for January 2010, and demand to be compensated for price changes to medication in the last quarter of 2009.

The strike ended after Borissov met Tsvetan Raichinov, head of the Bulgarian doctors' union, and agreed that by March 10 all funds owed to doctors, dentists, clinics and hospitals would be paid.