Declaration of the CITUB national protest

Today representatives of CITUB coming from all over the country turn to the ruling government and the opposition, to employers and social partners, with the voice of dissatisfaction and indignation. Because we do not get justice, because there is no guarantee of security in our labour and life, because we do not get fair and decent remuneration for our labour, and our rights are threatened by upstart businessmen.

 The attacks on our rights have become a daily round. Employers want to remove all additional payments, minimum insurance thresholds and what not.
 In "European" Bulgaria, the business refuses to negotiate and confounds negotiations at all levels.
 Social and economic inequalities are growing – there is a huge gap between widespread misery and cynically demonstrated affluence.
Today we are in the squares to express our anger. We want to be heard. We want our decisive voice to reach all corners of Bulgaria: Working Bulgaria wants higher wages!

CITUB requires from the ruling authority:

-  Catching up income policy.
-  A tax system that equitably distributes labour and capital burden between the poor and the rich, and the first step in this direction is a tax-free minimum up to the minimum wage.
-  Immediate adoption of a legal norm to criminalize the ever more frequent violations of employees’ rights to association and collective bargaining.
-  Enhanced enforcement of social and labour law, particularly in the area of safety and health at work, working time, wages and social security.
-  Guaranteed access of all Bulgarian citizens to quality education and health care, functioning on a social rather than a market principle.

We insist that employers:

• End their attacks on labour - workers are the most valuable capital of the Bulgarian economy.
• Sit at the negotiation table - the correct solutions to today’s problems are there.
• Accept that wage growth is without an alternative. The reserves for economic growth lie elsewhere and not in labor costs.
• Understand that the state requirements for order and transparency are not "administrative burdens", but part of the democracy and legality.

We must make it clear that Bulgaria is a member of the EU - democratic community with rules and standards, with a developed system of social dialogue and industrial relations, with values and practices that do not need a "Balkan flavour" to them!