Miners and energy workers are gathering Tuesday for a protest rally in Sofia titled A clear and secure energy future for Bulgaria. The protest is organized by the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) to preserve coal mining and is against the premature closure of capacities in the coal sector, the two trade unions said.
The protest rally will start from Alexander Nevsky Square at 11:30 a.m. leading to the Council of Ministers, where at 12:00 p.m. a national protest will take place. The protest will be joined by CITUB and the Podkrepa’s trade unions in the Maritsa East complex, the National Federation of Energy Workers at CITUB, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Miners at CITUB, the SMF Podkrepa and the Energetics Federation at Podkrepa, as well as miners and energy workers from the entire coal mining sector in Bulgaria.
CITUB and the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa fear job losses. "As the territorial plans suggest, about 12,000 jobs in the Maritsa East complex are initially expected to be threatened," the Chair of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Miners at CITUB, Valentin Valchev told BTA. The tendency is for them to rise to 15,000 after 2030. Up to 100,000 indirect jobs could be at risk, he added.
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