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Librarians take to the streets to protest low pay

Photo: BTA/ Archive

Librarians, backed by trade unions, have staged a protest in front of Sofia Library, demanding higher salaries.


According to a recent decision by the Council of Ministers, those working in the field of information and bibliographic services will receive a salary increase of only 5%. The protesters say that the allocated funds are not only for salaries, but also for the maintenance of the institute itself, and in the capital's library an employee with a master's degree earns an average of about 700 euros.


Therefore, on the day when the Capital's Library celebrates its professional holiday - Librarians' Day, May 11, the employees will wear protest ribbons on their lapels. The library workers' demand is that the minimum wage should not be less than EUR 900. 


Kiril Binev, the leader of the "Culture" branch of the "Podkrepa" tradeunion, notes that the library workers are a negligible electoral unit and that the government does not rely on their votes, so it justifies its decision on the grounds of a budget deficit. According to him, librarians have not contributed to this deficit, so they should not be "punished" with low salaries.



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