President of the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions Plamen Dimitrov: There is a readiness for protests in the public sector

There is a readiness for protests in the public sector in at least four or five areas, and some of them are already starting. This was said by the President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) Plamen Dimitrov during a press conference dedicated to the remuneration of labor in our country, BTA reported.

According to him, people are not excited about the convergence report on the euro, which is due to be released on June 4, but expect a real increase in their salaries.

The Bulgarian National Television is collecting signatures for effective strike actions, Dimitrov announced. There was a protest in the public national media recently and currently I also think that a formula must be found for those who have sufficient public trust to receive recognition through the corresponding salary increases, he said. Dimitrov added that the growth should be more visible and tangible.

The President of the CITUB noted the tension in healthcare. There is an increase for doctors - about 45% of the basic salaries, for nurses there is stagnation - 16%, which is ridiculous and that is why people are on the streets, he commented. Plamen Dimitrov announced that a sector council will be held at the Ministry of Health on June 2. We will hear what will happen there, whether the sectoral collective agreement will see the light of day, whether the starting salary levels will be agreed upon or whether we will have national protests there too, the president of the CITUB also pointed out.

Regarding the protests in public transport in Sofia and other cities, the CITUB said that low-skilled labor should not be opposed to highly skilled labor. Let us not forget that in addition to education, knowledge and skills, the deficient labor market dictates wage increases that are not always related to qualifications, commented Dimitrov.

The president of the CITUB was categorical that the protest of the public transport in Sofia was not political. I neither want to get into the battle between Borisov and Terziev, nor is it my business, he commented. To claim that the drivers' protest was politically organized is simply a lie. It is derived from the expectations and demands of the people, said Dimitrov. If there is no increase next year, as we want, there will certainly be similar protests again, predicted the president of the CITUB.

For drivers in Sofia, the growth in the basic salary for four years is below 50%, Dimitrov pointed out. The growth in the remuneration of service workers and maintenance is about 50%, according to the union's data. For the capital's urban transport, the CITUB noted that the basic salary is 2,402 leva after the increase of 300 leva, and the average gross salary is 4,050 leva. This is due to overtime work, which is 221,000 hours per year, which exceeds the permissible hours, the union explained.

However, the vice president of the CITUB Todor Kapitanov emphasized that overtime work is prohibited, as the law allows overtime work for certain activities such as disaster prevention, etc. Unfortunately, overtime has become the norm in Bulgaria, he said. According to him, the admissibility of overtime is 150 hours per year, 30 hours per month, 6 hours per week and 3 hours on two consecutive working days.

The real growth of the average gross salary from 2021 to 2025 is 28.4%. The nominal growth is 66 percent, the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions also reported. While four years ago the average gross salary was 1,472 leva, by 2025 it had reached 2,443 leva. The average salary in the private sector has been growing much faster in recent years than the average in the public sector, commented Plamen Dimitrov. In 2025, the average salary in the private sector is 2,467, with the real growth since 2021 being 32.5%. A more serious increase in recent years was reported by the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (CBU) for teachers and university lecturers.