New information centre for Bulgarians intending to work in Spain
In December 2006, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy and the president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria opened an information centre for Bulgarians intending to work in Spain. The new centre is the result of a joint project by Bulgarian and Spanish trade unions, which united efforts to defend social security and workers’ rights and promote legal work in the EU.
On 13 December 2006, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Emilia Maslarova, and the President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) (BG0307204F), Jeliazko Hristov, opened the first information centre in Sofia for Bulgarian workers intending to work in Spain. Minister Maslarova assessed the joint trade union initiative as an ‘exceptionally well-timed and positive step in defending labour rights, based on the cooperation of Bulgarian and Spanish trade unions’. Several government officials attended the official opening of the centre.
At the event, the Executive Director of the National Employment Agency, Sotir Ushev, and Mr Hristov of CITUB, signed a cooperation agreement between the employment agency and CITUB on the free movement of workers.
Mr Hristov expresses CITUB’s intentions to develop such initiatives with trade unions in the other EU Member States.
Aims of information centre
The information centre is the result of the joint project ‘Trade union participation in migration processes’ carried out by CITUB, the General Workers’ Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT) (ES9711132F) and the Trade Union Institute for Cooperation and Development (Instituto Sindical de Cooperación al Desarrollo, ISCOD-UGT) in Spain.
At present, about 43,900 Bulgarians work in Spain out of the total migrant population of more than 18 million migrants, including those from non-EU countries. Bulgarians in Spain work mainly in the construction, services and agriculture sectors. Moreover, up to 1,300 self-employed Bulgarians are registered in Spain. However, it seems that the number of illegal migrants and illegal workers, including Bulgarians, remains high.
The trade unions opened the information centre with the following aims:
- to prevent and combat illegal labour migration;
- to defend and guarantee the labour rights of migrant workers;
- to promote the social and labour market integration of Bulgarian workers in the socioeconomic life of Spain.
The centre will provide information and consultation on the legal conditions for longer official stays in Spain and on securing legal employment within the Spanish labour market, and on obligations of migrants. Moreover, the centre will promote human and labour rights of migrants.
At the opening ceremony a booklet outlining guidelines, ‘Foreigners living and working in Spain’, was launched. It contains information on legislative provisions for living and working in Spain, contact details of UGT centres in different Spanish cities and also of CITUB’s information centres in the various regions of Spain.
Labour migration agreement between Bulgaria and Spain
The joint efforts between Bulgarian and Spanish trade unions represent a further step in regulating labour migration and establishing effective relations between the two countries. This follows the agreement between Spain and Bulgaria regulating labour migration which is in force since February 2005. This labour agreement covers permanent and seasonal workers, and provides for equal working conditions and social rights for migrant workers with that of local workers. Remuneration of these workers is based on individual labour contracts in line with collective agreements, if they exist. In addition, migrant workers enjoy the social security rights provided by the social security system in Spain.
The agreement is based on the presumption that labour migration has a positive effect on the social and economic development of both countries.
Commentary
Against the background of Bulgaria’s accession to the EU on 1 January 2007, the trade union initiative is important as, in conjunction with the labour migration agreement between Bulgaria and Spain, it increases the security of Bulgarian citizens and helps to fight trafficking and illegal migration. Moreover, it underlines Bulgaria’s migration policy, aimed at achieving a balance between the freedom of movement of people and the control of illegal immigration while respecting the fundamental human rights and freedoms as guaranteed in EU treaties.
Nadezhda Daskalova, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research (ISTUR)