site.btaUnions Say EUR 24.6 Mln Needed for 5% Pay Rise in State-Subsidized Transport Companies

Trade union representatives said that EUR 24.6 million would be needed to finance a 5% salary increase from January 1 for employees working in state-subsidized structures such as urban transport companies, Bulgarian State Railways, National Railway Infrastructure Company, and Bulgarian Posts. The figure was announced on Monday by Aleksandar Shopov, Chair of the Federation of Transport Trade Unions (FTTU) affiliated with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), after a meeting with the mayor of Varna, Blagomir Kotsev. The information was also confirmed by CITUB Vice President Todor Kapitanov. The meeting had been initiated by Kotsev during a protest by employees of the city’s public transport company, who blocked traffic at the beginning of Asparuhov Bridge in the direction of the city exit earlier in the day.

Kapitanov recalled that a 5% salary increase had already been planned for other employees in the state sector under the budget extension law (formally the Act on the Collection of Revenues and the Commitment of Expenditures in 2026 until the Passage of the 2026 State Budget Act, the 2026 Public Social Insurance Budget Act and the 2026 National Health Insurance Fund Budget Act). He said that although the unions were aware that a 5% increase was very small, they were seeking fairness. Once a regular state budget is adopted, the unions plan to push for at least a 10% pay rise, and up to 15% in some sectors.

He added that after the adoption of a regular state budget for 2026, the Varna municipality would be able to plan its expenditures more easily. At that point, the union would likely ask the municipality to look for ways to provide additional funding for what the union proposes to negotiate in the collective labour agreement, namely a EUR 200 wage increase.

Shopov said that dialogue between the unions and the municipality was constructive and that solutions should be sought together. However, he stressed that the issue cannot be resolved without dialogue with the state and with the Ministry of Finance. He welcomed Kotsev’s willingness to sign a new cooperation agreement with the unions but added that such an agreement would not be possible without additional funding from the state.

For his part, Kotsev said the municipality stood in solidarity with initiatives aimed at improving working conditions for employees, including those in the transport sector, which he described as particularly important. He said that the municipality had always tried to respond to workers’ demands as much as possible and had done what it could so far. According to the mayor, it is necessary to bring the state, the municipality and the unions to the same table in order to find a long-term and sustainable solution and ensure predictable financing for these activities.