The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) insists on a minimum wage of 690 euros and proposes a 10% increase in wages. Why did the unions fail to convince Finance Minister Galab Donev?
"The conversation is not over yet. We held many meetings, which should also be taken into account. The last meeting on Friday, before our protest rally, ended with a commitment to review the accounts. The amount of 660 euros that is planned is not the final proposal. In other words, the door on this topic remains open," said the president of the CITUB Plamen Dimitrov in the program "Metronome" on Radio FOCUS with host Tsonya Sabcheva.
Meanwhile, the mechanism for determining the minimum wage has been agreed for the coming years, said Dimitrov.
"I heard comments that we have abandoned what was agreed. This is not the case. We have not backed down from anything that we have agreed, but for 2027 this mechanism is inapplicable, since we are already at the end of the budget process. The procedure begins in May, as stipulated in the ordinance and in the law amending the Labor Code," the guest pointed out.
"As for the specific amount, indeed, under the old mechanism the minimum wage was supposed to reach this amount and people have been expecting it for a long time. Any different amount is perceived as unacceptable," he added.
However, this is only one of the reasons for the demands of the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions. According to Dimitrov, the minimum wage should increase by 10% to bring it at least a little closer to price levels.
"The small consumer basket that we have been monitoring monthly since last year includes 21 of the most necessary products. According to our data, their average price, tracked in stores in 81 municipalities in the country, has increased by over 9%. This is again an average value. We all see the unusually high prices that appear on the market every day," said the president of the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions.
He expressed the opinion that the rise in prices has become extremely difficult to control.
"The regulators and the government have failed to achieve the promised limitation of price increases. Obviously, this is very difficult, if not almost impossible. Therefore, the only remaining option is to compensate for the price increase by increasing income, so that people's purchasing power can at least partially recover and approach its previous levels," Dimitrov pointed out.
He stated that the funds needed for the CITUB's demands amount to about 350 million euros
"With an expected state budget of nearly 60 billion euros, we are talking about an additional approximately 350 million euros. We are convinced that these funds can be found, and we have already indicated specific measures for this", said Plamen Dimitrov.
"Overall, however, the planned measures are expected to provide about 1.1 billion euros in additional revenue. We have specific proposals that we have already presented to the Minister of Finance. They show where additional revenues can be secured," he added.
On the underestimated economic growth
According to Dimitrov, the Ministry of Finance traditionally underestimates economic growth.
"This does not apply only to the current government - a similar practice has been observed in previous years. When it is established that the economy has produced more than initially expected, this also means a higher base for tax and social security revenues. This leads to an overfulfillment of revenues compared to the plan, he also pointed out.