Lyulin Stamenov/Sofia Echo
Aggrieved miners were among those who protested last Friday outside
Parliament demanding new social and economic policies.
The jobless miners who threw coins at the parliamentary building shouted: “We are ashamed to be Bulgarian”.
Their gesture was part of an anti-poverty protest rally in Sofia last Friday.
Organised by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), the protest drew thousands of supporters, rallying under the motto “For New Social and Economic Policies”.
The march was the third in a recent series staged by CITUB.
The protesters’ main demands were for a minimum monthly salary of 120 leva as of October 1, 2002, through two 10 per cent wage hikes in the public sector – one on July 10 and one on October 1 – and for the cancellation of plans to lay off 10 per cent of public sector workers.
“We have not come together to ruin Bulgaria but to strengthen its stability,” Zheliazko Hristov, CITUB leader, said at the opening of the march.
Chavdar Hristov, CITUB executive secretary of labour protection and labour legislation, said: “We organised the rally simply because we ask for more concrete measures taken by the Government in the social sector”.
Protesters held up slogans reading “NO to Poverty and Hunger” and chanted “We Want Bread and Work”. The Government were traitors, they shouted.
“Stop closing down mines, hospitals, schools and enterprises,” CITUB deputy chairman Ivan Kokalov said.
He called for social dialogue with the Cabinet, saying the protests would continue if this did not happen.
The protestors demanded the resignations of Social Minister Lydia Shuleva and Finance Minister Milen Velchev.
State Administration Minister Dimitar Kalchev was prepared to accept a protest declaration from the trade unions but the unions did not hand over such a document.
Kalchev said the march was an attempt to pressure the Government, and was wrongly timed.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and Shuleva signed a national agreement on cooperation between the Government, the employers’ organisations and the trade unions.
Representatives of Podkrepa trade union, CITUB, Bulgaria’s Economic Initiative Civil Union (EICU), Vazrazhdane business club, the Bulgarian Industrial Association and Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) were invited to sign the agreement. CITUB leader Zheliazko Hristov declined the invitation to sign the document.
Podkrepa, EICU, Vazrazhdane, the Bulgarian Industrial Association and BCCI all signed.
Although CITUB did not sign, it was present at the event. Hristov said the confederation would put its signature to the agreement upon the approval of a concrete programme and measures for action.
The agreement was devised as a way for the Government, unions and employers to collaborate on issues including revenue policy and job creation.
Shuleva said the trade unions have some extreme demands which cannot be completed.
“They want a 30 per cent rise of the budget salaries, which is unacceptable.
“I invite CITUB to join the agreement at any time,” said Shuleva.
In the first days of the Government’s start of their mandate, CITUB introduced concrete measures for active work in the social policy field.
These set out urgent issues and some to be considered later.
A charter for social cooperation has been signed involving principles for expressing the intentions and the position of the sides.
“An agreement allows a chance for mutual and simultaneous actions,” Hristov said.
Experts of the confederation also took part in the charter, which does not actually included anything concrete, Hristov said.
The agreement says that a plan is needed for actions throughout the whole mandate.
“In connection to the least likely situation related to the taxation policy we were eager to take measures,” Hristov said.
The price policy of the electricity providers and the lack of compensation in relation to high inflation were also discrepancies between the charter plan and reality.
A plan has been worked out but without having proposed anything concrete.
“These cases do not allow us to sign the agreement,” Hristov told The Echo.
A similar agreement was signed between the trade unions and the previous Government, he said.
“There is no point in signing under slogans raised,” he added.
Hristov said the protests were not intended to be a coup against the Government.
“There is a formal social dialogue,” Hristov said.
“What CITUB asks for is inappropriate to what the economic situation demands and the Government has been accused for that,” Shuleva told The Echo.
“These wishes aim at only confrontation and not an establishment of a dialogue,” she said.
She said that it was surprising CITUB was emphasising the lack of concrete measures and actions to be taken by the Government. The National Action Plan had concrete parameters about taxation laws, income and employment policy.
In two weeks time the plan will be signed and agreed on by all sides of the National Council of the Tripartite Union.
“That is the normal, constructive social way for leading of a social dialogue,” Shuleva said.
“On the background of poverty, the right of the Bulgarian citizens to protest cannot be challenged nor denied.”
She said she expected CITUB representatives to support the agreement on cooperation between the Government and the social partners.
“The new economic and social policy should be negotiated and the social and economic reality in the country should be taken into consideration.
“We don’t consider that demonstrations are useful for the social dialogue,” Shuleva said.
From the start of the Government, a packet of social inquiries were posed by both CITUB and Podkrepa labour confederation.
Among these was an increase in the average salary to 90 leva. “We have made it 100 leva per month,” she said.
The packet also included a demand for the abolition of the regulation regarding salaries in state-owned enterprises.
What the Government achieved was a decrease of restrictions on the matter and a company with a profit enabled employers to receive higher salaries.
“This has become one of the greatest successes in the social sphere made by the Government.”
Their gesture was part of an anti-poverty protest rally in Sofia last Friday.
Organised by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), the protest drew thousands of supporters, rallying under the motto “For New Social and Economic Policies”.
The march was the third in a recent series staged by CITUB.
The protesters’ main demands were for a minimum monthly salary of 120 leva as of October 1, 2002, through two 10 per cent wage hikes in the public sector – one on July 10 and one on October 1 – and for the cancellation of plans to lay off 10 per cent of public sector workers.
“We have not come together to ruin Bulgaria but to strengthen its stability,” Zheliazko Hristov, CITUB leader, said at the opening of the march.
Chavdar Hristov, CITUB executive secretary of labour protection and labour legislation, said: “We organised the rally simply because we ask for more concrete measures taken by the Government in the social sector”.
Protesters held up slogans reading “NO to Poverty and Hunger” and chanted “We Want Bread and Work”. The Government were traitors, they shouted.
“Stop closing down mines, hospitals, schools and enterprises,” CITUB deputy chairman Ivan Kokalov said.
He called for social dialogue with the Cabinet, saying the protests would continue if this did not happen.
The protestors demanded the resignations of Social Minister Lydia Shuleva and Finance Minister Milen Velchev.
State Administration Minister Dimitar Kalchev was prepared to accept a protest declaration from the trade unions but the unions did not hand over such a document.
Kalchev said the march was an attempt to pressure the Government, and was wrongly timed.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and Shuleva signed a national agreement on cooperation between the Government, the employers’ organisations and the trade unions.
Representatives of Podkrepa trade union, CITUB, Bulgaria’s Economic Initiative Civil Union (EICU), Vazrazhdane business club, the Bulgarian Industrial Association and Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) were invited to sign the agreement. CITUB leader Zheliazko Hristov declined the invitation to sign the document.
Podkrepa, EICU, Vazrazhdane, the Bulgarian Industrial Association and BCCI all signed.
Although CITUB did not sign, it was present at the event. Hristov said the confederation would put its signature to the agreement upon the approval of a concrete programme and measures for action.
The agreement was devised as a way for the Government, unions and employers to collaborate on issues including revenue policy and job creation.
Shuleva said the trade unions have some extreme demands which cannot be completed.
“They want a 30 per cent rise of the budget salaries, which is unacceptable.
“I invite CITUB to join the agreement at any time,” said Shuleva.
The unions say...
Chavdar Hristov, CITUB executive secretary of the labour protection and labour legislation:In the first days of the Government’s start of their mandate, CITUB introduced concrete measures for active work in the social policy field.
These set out urgent issues and some to be considered later.
A charter for social cooperation has been signed involving principles for expressing the intentions and the position of the sides.
“An agreement allows a chance for mutual and simultaneous actions,” Hristov said.
Experts of the confederation also took part in the charter, which does not actually included anything concrete, Hristov said.
The agreement says that a plan is needed for actions throughout the whole mandate.
“In connection to the least likely situation related to the taxation policy we were eager to take measures,” Hristov said.
The price policy of the electricity providers and the lack of compensation in relation to high inflation were also discrepancies between the charter plan and reality.
A plan has been worked out but without having proposed anything concrete.
“These cases do not allow us to sign the agreement,” Hristov told The Echo.
A similar agreement was signed between the trade unions and the previous Government, he said.
“There is no point in signing under slogans raised,” he added.
Hristov said the protests were not intended to be a coup against the Government.
“There is a formal social dialogue,” Hristov said.
Shuleva says...
Lydia Shuleva, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Policy:“What CITUB asks for is inappropriate to what the economic situation demands and the Government has been accused for that,” Shuleva told The Echo.
“These wishes aim at only confrontation and not an establishment of a dialogue,” she said.
She said that it was surprising CITUB was emphasising the lack of concrete measures and actions to be taken by the Government. The National Action Plan had concrete parameters about taxation laws, income and employment policy.
In two weeks time the plan will be signed and agreed on by all sides of the National Council of the Tripartite Union.
“That is the normal, constructive social way for leading of a social dialogue,” Shuleva said.
“On the background of poverty, the right of the Bulgarian citizens to protest cannot be challenged nor denied.”
She said she expected CITUB representatives to support the agreement on cooperation between the Government and the social partners.
“The new economic and social policy should be negotiated and the social and economic reality in the country should be taken into consideration.
“We don’t consider that demonstrations are useful for the social dialogue,” Shuleva said.
From the start of the Government, a packet of social inquiries were posed by both CITUB and Podkrepa labour confederation.
Among these was an increase in the average salary to 90 leva. “We have made it 100 leva per month,” she said.
The packet also included a demand for the abolition of the regulation regarding salaries in state-owned enterprises.
What the Government achieved was a decrease of restrictions on the matter and a company with a profit enabled employers to receive higher salaries.
“This has become one of the greatest successes in the social sphere made by the Government.”
