site.btaPoliticians, Unions Mark Labour Day with Calls for Social Justice

On Labour Day, May 1, politicians and trade unions made statements identifying labour and social policy problems. The two most influential trade unions, the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), organized events.

President Rumen Radev said in a Facebook post that work should not be reduced to a means of survival, but should be the basis for a full life, “without which the existence of a solidary and democratic society is impossible”.

"A day of gratitude for the efforts of all who work honestly for their families and loved ones, for the country and our future. It is also a symbol of the pursuit of fair working conditions, decent pay and social security," the President wrote.

"We must not allow the benefits of labour to be robbed by authorized corruption and managerial ignorance. Nothing deepens the sense of futility around honest effort more than impunity for negligence, the misappropriation of public resources, and political arrogance. And in order for people, especially our younger generations, to be motivated to work for their country, they must be confident that their knowledge, skills and abilities are respected and valued and everyone has equal access to opportunities for professional and personal development," Radev said.

Labour and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov called on Bulgarians to not give up on the rights that generations before them fought for. “Workers' rights were not given freely and today we celebrate this battle. Let us show respect by protecting them. Because they are for us,” he said on his Ministry's website.

Gutsanov celebrated Labour Day in Varna, where he said that more than 50,000 statements of violations of labour legislation were drawn in the first three months of the year. He stressed that safety at the workplace and compliance with labour rights is  crucial, and pointed out that in the first quarter of 2025, over 13,000 inspections were carried out, during which 914 cases of work without an employment contract were identified. “The state must show zero tolerance for the use of undeclared labour and disregard for safety rules,” he also said.

He said a key problem is the reluctance not only of employers, but also of workers to enter into formal employment contracts, despite the long-term financial losses they incur by avoiding them.

Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov said Labour Day is a symbol of defiance which has led to hard-won change. Zafirov, who is also Chairman of the National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), attended a celebration traditionally organized by the Left on May Day.

He said: "Ever since that May 1 in 1886 in Chicago, people have been asking whether the pursuit of wealth is worth the cost of human exploitation and the abuse of workers' labour."

Zafirov noted that an economic transformation is taking place where "the worker is no longer seen as a cost, but as an investment, which requires quality education, strong social standing and good health. That is how we see our role - as a guarantor of this transformation".

The Podkrepa Confederation of Labour marked Labour Day with a march and a concert in central Sofia for the ninth year in a row. This year's slogan was "Hands Off Household Electricity Regulation". More than 2.5 million Bulgarians, most of them with jobs, fall into the energy poor category, according to Podkrepa.

The organizers said working people face a range of economic and labour-related challenges, many of which stem from the fast-paced nature of modern life and the growing need for employee training and retraining. They emphasized the importance of a comprehensive set of measures to help stabilize the social security system and support  the energy poor.

Talking about plans for reform of the pension system, Podkrepa President Dimitar Manolov told BTA: "We consider any increase in the retirement age unacceptable and will not allow it to happen. In the past 20 years, we have seen a continuous rise in the retirement age and in the requirements for pension eligibility." He said those requirements are unbearable for a large portion of Bulgarian workers.

CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov said on the union's website: "Once upon a time, the struggle was for an 8-hour workday. Today, sometimes it still is. The aspiration was for higher wages. Today, it still is. We have had to convince powerholders and employers for years that labour should get us out of the poverty trap, not leave us there. That income should provide a decent existence, and the minimum wage should be equal to the living wage, which covers basic needs. And we are far from it".

"In Bulgaria, the minimum wage is still only 56.5% of the living wage. We insist that it be brought up to par with it, and that our country fully adopts the Directive on adequate minimum wages and the promotion of collective bargaining. We also insist that the voice of public sector workers, who did not receive an adequate increase in their salaries with Budget 2025, be heard," Dimitrov also said.

On May 1, CITUB presented its 10th Annual Report on Violations Related to the Exercise of Labour Rights. It summarized 17,502 alerts submitted in 2024 through the CITUB online platform for monitoring and legal consultations, their mobile application, union structures, trusted lawyers, the media, social networks and the podcast. The CITUB insists on a comprehensive strengthening of control mechanisms, improving the legal protection of workers and establishing unions as a key partner in the process of guaranteeing decent working conditions.