Trade unions organise national protest actions

Download article in original language : BG0412203FBG.DOC

In October-November 2004, Bulgaria's two main trade union confederations, CITUB and CL Podkrepa , organised protest actions and strikes throughout the country, culminating in a national protest rally on 10 November and a national one-hour warning strike on 18 November. The unions claim that there is lack of national bargaining on some urgent social problems, and are concerned about the 2005 state budget, which is seen as including inadequate social provisions, and about the effects on workers' rights of a memorandum signed by the government and International Monetary Fund.

In light of Bulgaria's planned EU membership in 2007, in May 2004 the two main trade union confederations (BG0307204F) - the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa (CL Podkrepa) - sent a joint statement to the Prime Minister and the chair of parliament. The unions stated that, despite some positive economic results, the business environment and competitiveness have not improved significantly. The quality of life in Bulgaria is still ranked last among the 27 current and future EU Member States, and more than 51% of households live under the 'poverty threshold', with monthly income below BGN 125 (EUR 67) per capita (BG0408202F). The unions said that Bulgaria more than ever before needs real, constructive solutions and consensus on the main parameters for its development until EU accession. They called for:

• the social partners to take responsibility for all their actions or lack thereof, which lead to the aggravation of existing conflicts or the appearance of new conflicts and areas of social tension;

• positive legislative activity and a commitment by the state to solve current acute social and labour problems;

• the development and enhancement of collective bargaining at all levels with clear rules and legitimate social partners;

• achieving a balance between labour and capital, as the only possible mutually beneficial reconciliation of interests on the labour market, plus economic prosperity, workforce-quality development and fair pay;

• applying EU social standards and ceasing 'social dumping', in order to achieve a sustainable impact on employment and quality of jobs and increase the income of the population; and

• complete accountability with regard to economic policy's social dimensions and consequences.

CITUB and CL Podkrepa stated that, as nationally responsible social partners, they were ready to begin urgent national negotiations with the government on a minimum package of immediate measures, as proposed by the trade unions. The government did not react to the trade union demands for urgent negotiations on important social issues.

Trade union discontent was also stoked by a recent government agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which may potentially entail the abolition of current workers' allowances for length of service (BG0410201N) and for hazardous working conditions (BG0411101N).

In July 2004, the CITUB-CL Podkrepa consultative council decided to hold a referendum to assess workers' readiness to participate in protest actions and strikes. This exercise was carried out in 2,394 enterprises and organisations. Of the trade union members and unorganised workers who responded: 27.40% said they were ready to take part in regional protest actions; 50.40% in national protests; and 53.41% in a general strike. Protests were then organised in the autumn on this basis.

Protests

Protest demonstrations began around the country in October 2004, with some 20,000 participants. Strikes took place in parallel to the protests in some enterprises with wage arrears. These were companies forming part of the Bulgartabac Holding tobacco group and the state-owned military equipment company TEREM, as well as a plant belonging to the Balkancar motor manufacturer, where workers had not had their wages and social insurance contributions paid since May 2004.

On 10 November, CITUB and CL Podkrepa held a national protest rally under the slogan '15 years later - poorer and poorer'. Nearly 30,000 trade union members attended, calling on the authorities to:

• give up their intention to amend labour legislation;

• increase all workers' wages by at least 11%, which represents the sum of the inflation rate and GDP growth;

• additionally increase wages in institutions financed from the state budget by 10%, backdated to 1 October 2004;

• increase the national minimum wage by at least 30% annually until Bulgaria's accession to the EU;

• prosecute and imprison employers that fail to pay their workers' wages and social insurance contributions;

• stop increasing workers' personal social insurance contributions and freeze them at 30% of total insurance contributions;

• raise maternity benefits from BGN 120 to BGN 150 a month and the maximum and minimum amounts of unemployment compensation to BGN 175 and BGN 90 a month respectively;

• exempt workers' food vouchers from taxes and social insurance charges;

• guarantee the right to strike to workers employed in power engineering, communications, healthcare and the civil service (BG0401101N); and

• guarantee equal access to high-quality health services and improve patients' rights, by means of legislative changes, strict financial control and improving the efficiency of healthcare institutions.

During and after the protests, the government did not react to the union's demands for negotiations and on 18 November CITUB and CL Podkrepa organised a national one-hour warning strike, in which it was claimed that some 417,000 people participated. The first strike of the day was started at 06.00 by miners, followed by teachers. At 11.00 workers in metalworking, machine building, light industry etc started a one-hour strike (most of the enterprises in this area are private, including multinational companies). Notably, all sewing machine operators at the Georgi Damianov company in the town of Yambol, where there is no trade union organisation, joined the one-hour protest. Healthcare personnel, who have no right to strike, held protest meetings in front of healthcare establishments, and some patients joined these actions. In the other sectors where strikes are banned, workers wore armbands stating 'I am protesting'. Two international highways were blocked.

During the strikes, government representatives stated through the media that they were unaware whether the action was a strike or some other kind of protest. At the end of the day, the leaders of CITUB and CL Podkrepa received an invitation to a meeting with a government team the next day (19 November). At this meeting, the leaders of both trade union confederations submitted the draft of an agreement aimed at meeting their demands.

On 19 November, the CITUB-affiliated Union of Bulgarian Teachers (UBT) organised a one-day sector-wide strike, demanding an increase in the funds allocated for education in the 2005 state budget and a pay rise. The one-day strike was joined by over 93,000 teachers and other staff in kindergartens and schools. During the next few days, in the run-up to the adoption by parliament at first reading of 2005 budget, UBT organised a camp in front of parliament to collect signatures in support of its main demands. A petition was organised throughout the country and was signed by 95,000 workers and citizens. Following the protests, at the first reading of 2005 budget law parliament agreed an increase of BGN 135 million (EUR 77 million) in the funds allocated to secondary education.

After the national actions, the trade unions decided to continue the protests in industrial sectors and companies with major problems. The strikes at TEREM and at the Balkancar plant continued in December.

On 7 December, the CITUB-affiliated Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Miners, the Trade Union Federation of Miners Podkrepa and the Bulgarian Mining Chamber employer’s association sent a protest declaration to the Prime Minister and other government authorities. The main demand was to cease the privatisation process of Heat Power Station Bobov dol EAD (HPS Bobov dol), which is seen as violating a preliminary agreement between the social partners. This agreement states that the privatisation process will start only after a development strategy has been drafted, specifying the conditions clearly - notably, after privatisation the power station should use predominantly locally produced coal. Coal mining to supply the power station is the source of income for 11,000 miners. These miners, their families and people in employment related to mining enterprises total more than 50,000, and their future depends on the privatisation of HPS Bobov dol. Claiming a lack of dialogue on their demands, the mining federations of CITUB and CL Podkrepa organised on 14 December a meeting and demonstration against the privatisation of HPS Bobov dol, attended by some 6,000 people. The public and local government in the town of Bobov dol, as well the employer’s chamber, supported the miners’ protest.

Views on the protests

The Minister of Labour and Social Policy said that the trade unions' demands behind their protests were unjustified, since the statements in the memorandum agreed with IMF are only advisory and there are no official proposals for amendments to the Labour Code. She was of the opinion that the protest was against the state, which employs only 10% of the workers, and should not therefore have been targeted at employers.

The chair of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) employers' organisation claimed that the trade unions were not protesting against employers but against the EU and IMF, which insist on the abolition of allowances for length of service and hazardous working conditions. It described the unions' demand for legal prosecution of employers that fail to pay wages as a radical measure and said that some balance is necessary - eg that workers who do not comply with internal work rules and regulations should be imprisoned. The BIA chair stated that the trade unions are protesting against the state, because they are not well represented in the private sector, and that their protests will obstruct the EU integration of the country.

The opposition in parliament - the parliamentary groups of the People's Union, Coalition for Bulgaria, United Democratic Forces and Novoto Vreme (New Time) - supported the trade union demands. The United Association of Pensioners also supported the trade unions in their protests.

In a telephone interview carried out among 768 workers on 19 and 20 November by the Institute for Marketing and Social Surveys Research (MBMD), respondents gave the following assessment:

• 5% believed that the strike had brought results;

• 35% believed that the strike will lead to wage rises;

• 50% believed that trade unions protect the interest of workers;

• 13% believed that trade unions work for their own interest; and

• 83% believed that employers that fail to pay wages should be prosecuted.

According to the survey, there are trade union organisations in 41% of companies in Sofia and district capitals, with membership totalling 28% of staff.

Negotiations so far

In talks with the trade unions, the government has declared that it will not implement unilateral amendments to labour legislation, except those related to the accession process and with a view to complying with the relevant EU Directives. The government has also committed itself to discussing amendments to labour legislation only after a mutual agreement has been achieved with representative trade union and employers’ organisations.

Commentary

The trade unions' protest actions were against the government’s economic and social policy and its reluctance to negotiate on their demands. Their arguments relate to: low incomes - the current purchasing power of real wages is half of its level in 1990, and more than 2,800,000 Bulgarians live under the 'poverty threshold'; unpaid wages, which total more than BGN 120 million (EUR 60 million); and a perceived failure to guarantee the constitutional right to equal access to education and healthcare in the draft 2005 state Budget.

The employers’ statements that the trade unions are not present in private enterprises were disproved by the survey conducted by the independent MBMD, as well as by the protesting workers in many private companies (especially in metalworking).

Despite government attempts to undervalue the trade union protests, it was forced to start negotiations on the day after the national one-hour warning strikes in November. The autumn's large-scale protest and strike actions indicate that joint actions and solidarity can force the authorities to consider the demands of trade unions and the wishes of workers. (Tatiana Mihaylova, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research)