The protest announced for May 20, organized by VON-KNSB, will still take place conducted.
"The meetings that took place yesterday were with rectors who support us, but not with us, as organizers of the protest. The declared result of them - BGN 39 million for the academic staff and BGN 12 million for the non-academic staff, VON-KNSB cannot accept". This is stated in the position of the National Trade Union “Higher Education and Science” to KNSB.
"The President of the Council of Rectors referred to our protest and organized meetings without presenting analysis, specific data and reliable information in the presidency, NA and MC. The draft Decree of the Council of Ministers, which was open for public discussion until April 10, provides something completely different, and only a person who is not familiar with it can enjoy a new BGN 39 million and accept a proposal from only the first part of the Decree , without the second - for an increase in the wages of all workers from April 1 under the HVO.
The 39 million BGN mentioned in this way are in the budget of the Ministry of Education and Culture with a decree from the end of March this year, and according to the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, they are not enough. The newly promised 12 million for employees, on the other hand, is extremely unprofessionally determined," the position reads.
Today there is a meeting in the Ministry of Finance, which is important and essential for clarification of the necessary funds.
"For us, the announced BGN 12 million for raising the salaries of the non-academic staff is insufficient. They were taken as an analogue of BGN 11.8 million, which they provided to DVU for the increase in the 2024 salary. and researchers, experts and specialists with higher education, another BGN 49.2 million are needed (a letter submitted to the National Assembly, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance on 11-29-2023), the union also stated.
"The Council of Rectors is an advisory body under Higher Education / Art. 23. The social partners under the Labor Code are us, the trade unions. Therefore, there will be a protest until a national agreement is signed and the Council of Ministers does not announce the Decree on wages for all workers, as stated in the Labor Code! Otherwise, the situation created in this way is also a heavy blow against the rule of law," the union also reported.
On Wednesday, the government announced that it will provide BGN 39 million in additional funding to increase the remuneration of academic staff in state higher education institutions, starting from January 1, 2024. The money was included in the state budget for 2024. Separately, a subsequent increase in salaries was also planned, starting from April 1, for which the government explained that at the moment there are no funds planned, which are in the amount of BGN 150 million.