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Trains all over Bulgaria stopped for one hour on 10 March 2011 as railway workers mounted a one-hour warning strike. Out of a total of 60 scheduled trains, 52 came to a standstill. Workers were protesting at the terms of the World Bank loan for the stabilisation of two Bulgarian railway companies, the National Railway Infrastructure Company and Holding Bulgarian State Railways. The loan is conditional on a 30% cut in labour costs which will lead to job cuts and wage freezes.
In October 2010, railway trade unions from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa (Podkrepa CL) protested at the employers’ failure to fulfil the social and health and safety requirements of the collective agreements.
Social tensions increased further after a Memorandum (in Bulgarian) was agreed in December between the Bulgarian government and the World Bank for a loan to stabilise the Bulgarian railways. The World Bank wanted 30% cuts in labour costs. This would mean wage freezes and job losses, so trade unions prepared to strike. A ballot on industrial action was supported by more than 80% of workers in the rail industry.
Trade union pressure forced Alexander Tsvetkov, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, to set up a working group to involve social partners in stabilising the finances of the railway companies. On the government side, participants included Ivaylo Moskovski, Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Valentina Simeonova, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Simeon Djankov, Deputy Minister of Finance and Alexander Tsvetkov. Mr Tsvetkov promised to halt dismissals until this process ended. The trade unions remained ready to strike until a programme for future investment in the railway sector was produced by the working group. However, several meetings of the group failed to reach any decision due to the absence of representatives from the Ministry of Finance.
Negotiations with the management of both companies and representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport failed to produce any concrete results. The trade unions then announced their intention to strike, starting with a one-hour warning strike on 10 March 2011. The plan was this that would become an all-out strike the following day.
Plamen Dimitrov, President of CITUB, and Konstantin Trenchev, President of Podkrepa CL, wrote to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to insist that he be personally involved in the talks. The trade unions claim that there is no clear vision or adequate investment policy for the sector. This will endanger the quality of service, compromise the safety of passengers and freight and lead to extremely poor working conditions. The Memorandum signed with the World Bank only covers the way in which the cumulative debt is to be repaid and the reduction of labour costs. The unions do not believe these methods contribute to rationalising rail operations or making them more efficient.
The trade unions argue that the sector needs urgent investment to renovate trains and management should focus on improving the rail sector by providing new and better jobs.
The unions asked for the following concessions:
Railway workers staged their one-hour warning strike on 10 March 2011. Out of a total of 60 trains scheduled to run during that hour, 52 came to a standstill.
At the headquarters of CITUB and Podkrepa CL, international support was received from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the European Trade Union Confederation, (ETUC), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ Solidarność), the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE), and many others, as well as from Bulgarian trade union federations and unions.
The strike forced the management of both companies and the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications to negotiate and the strikers’ demands were met. The trade unions still threaten further strikes if their demands are not implemented.
As a result of the strike, a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the Bulgarian railway sector was agreed between the presidents of CITUB and Podkrepa CL, Totyu Mladenov, Minister of Labour and Social Policy and the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications. This Memorandum of Understanding incorporates the unions’ strike demands and lays out a framework for the financial stability and technological development of the sector. The restructuring and financial reorganisation measures will be implemented once the social partners have been consulted.
Tatiana Mihaylova, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research (ISTUR)