Slowly and gradually, attempts are being made at a dangerous change of the Bulgarian Labor Code threatening the rights of working people.  This is the opinion of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria of the already tabled bills in parliaments for amendments to the labor legislation.  Bulgaria’s two employers’ organizations have raised their voices in support of the amendments – these are the Bulgarian Industrial Association and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The scandal is already a major headline in all media and now it is eagerly expected what parliament will do next.

The two bills proposed by MPs from the left-wing Coalition for Bulgaria were tabled in the Social Committee of the National Assembly without any discussions in the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. According to the unions, the proposals in them are an attempt to bring employed workers on their knees by violating even rights stipulated in the Constitution. Earlier, with the argument of “reducing the administrative burden for the business”, the cabinet as well adopted measures for legislative changes part of which have been reflected in the two bills. They also contain texts that are alarming, regarding the labor rights of workers, unions believe. The leader of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CITUB) Plamen Dimitrov commented:

“Over the past weeks, we are seeing endless attacks on the rights and interests of Bulgarian workers, in the form of well-organized and intentional actions on the part of various social groups. We saw that via two of the employers’ organizations, a stark attempt was made at introducing radical changes to the Labor Code which rebalance the interests of employers and employees.  We responded sharply to these actions which for us has a long-term character.  An attempt is being made, in one way or another, to implement the ideas set in the proposals of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Industrial Association via the practice of using other channels. We are seeing steps of the cabinet that we do not approve of and which, although not so deep at this stage, as far as the revoking of labor rights is concerned, show us a trend that we find alarming."

What is it that unions cannot agree with? One of the proposals tabled in Parliament “unties” the hands of employers for making changes to the working time, which hide dangerous risks for employees, Chavdar Hristov from CITUB says. These amendments suggest that the consent of unions or representatives of workers should not be taken into account when a reduced working time is introduced – from 8 to 4 hours. The bill proposes that this be done via consultations. The current text requires consent, not consultations.

Where is the real problem here, Chavdar Hristov explains:

“If I introduce reduce working hours without anyone there to stop me and for a couple of months you work for 4 hours and receive half of your salary, on the third month I can end your contract due to lack of enough work. And you will have to bear the unfavorable consequences of having this minimal wage based on which your unemployment benefits will be calculated. Is this really good for workers? What is the problem for each employer to introduce reduced hours via bilateral agreements with each of you? This can happen under another regulation. When we made the suggestion to introduce this text, which requires consent, we had in mind that sometimes a switch in the working hours is really needed.  But let us discuss these things together. And when we, the representatives of the employees, give our consent, not only the unions, then we together with the employer take the risk and responsibility for what will happen next.”

In the opinion of Chavdar Hristov, for example via other proposed changes, affecting small and medium enterprises, it actually so happens that nine texts from the Labor Code do not work. He says this is a violation of a constitutional principle according to which the enterprises – small, medium and large - should be placed under equal legal conditions.

English version: Rossitsa Petcova