site.btaUPDATED Public-Service Media Staffers, including BTA's, Protest for Pay Rise by at Least 15%
The employees of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) protested in Sofia and across the country on Thursday. Under the slogan "Work in the media has value", they demand a pay rise of at least 15%.
According to trade unions, the state budget resources needed for the increase amount to BGN 14 million (BGN 3 million for BTA, BGN 6 million for BNT, and BGN 5 million for BNR).
The President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), Plamen Dimitrov, commented that for several months, he and the President of the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, Dimitar Manolov, have been trying to convince the authorities that an increase of about BGN 100 to 150 million will satisfy the demands of the protesters in various industries. It is not a huge amount of money against a state budget of BGN 100 billion, he said. In his words, the manipulation that the budget deficit cannot be touched is an ungrounded argument.
Asking for a 15% pay rise for this year, work should start on an increase by another 15% every year until the salaries in the public media come closer to public expectations, Dimitrov noted. In his words, there is no way the institutions with the highest public trust should receive the least money.
The CITUB President said they will seek an answer to the protesters' demands from the Finance Minister, who must explain where the necessary money can be found. According to him, public television has an average salary close to BGN 5,000 in Romania and BGN 5,500 in in Lithuania.
Aneta Paunska, trade union chair of CITUB's organization at BTA, recalled that there has never been a joint protest of the three public media until now. The Bulgarian News Agency is now 127 years old, and this is the second protest where workers from the news agency are coming out to protest. She quoted the words of a reporter who said that working at the BTA is a luxury, because her rent in Sofia is equal to her salary.
There is a huge turnover of employees, Paunska also said. There is no way young workers can make it on such low pay, she added.
BTA reporter Nikolay Trifonov expressed the opinion that "politicians are unlikely to listen to the protesters, because politicians are brazen. They update their salaries every few months, while those of the public media - once a year, possibly," he added.
"The protest is too mannered, and politicians don't understand much of manners. That is why I call on us to stop work for 24 hours, like our colleagues in Greece," Trifonov said.
Iva Djadjeva of BNR said they deserve decent pay for their work. Gergana Hristova from the Bulgarian National Radio mixed choir noted: "The salaries we receive are more than ridiculous, there has been no one to update them for years. I'm here because I'm raising two children on my own and I work four jobs."
BTA senior reporter Konstantin Kostov called on the protesters: "Let's show that we are not invisible, let's show that we can't go on like this anymore, let's show that we are professionals and we observe the highest standards at the BTA and we want this thing to be appreciated."
In Sofia, the protesters blocked the junction in front of the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia in the city centre.
The three media outlets' employees across the country protested as well, including in Varna, Blagoevgrad, Shumen, and Plovdiv.
The protest was backed by the Association of European Journalists in Bulgaria.
A previous protest for pay rise was held back in March.
/RY/
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