site.btaTwo Days In: Sofia’s Surface Transport at a Standstill, Strike to Continue Friday

Day 2 of Sofia’s surface-transport strike on Thursday has halted buses, trams and trolleybuses, leaving only the metro in service and schools closed. Unions are demanding at least a 15% pay rise, while the Sofia Municipality cites budget limits. Two days of talks have narrowed the gap between workers’ call for an extra BGN 300 a month and Sofia Municipality’s offer of either BGN 180 for all staff or BGN 100 plus doubled driver bonuses. Negotiations will restart only if the stoppage ends, and unions must decide whether to strike again on Friday.

The first report said all ground vehicles were parked, the protest used the slogan “Decent Work – Decent Pay! No Transport, No Economy!”, and Mayor Vasil Terziev called union leaders to a 14:00 meeting.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms-New Beginning floor leader Delyan Peevski said: “I see the great governance of the poodles. Where they have governed, everything is in collapse. There are robberies and people are in this situation. I hope all this will end soon,” promising to stop “robberies” he links to Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria's administration.

Deputy Mayor Ivan Vasilev noted wages in public transport have risen 150% since 2018, yet driver numbers have fallen 19%. “The decisions are clear, but require political will for consensus,” Vasilev said, floating targeted bonuses for new hires and a loan-financed fleet renewal.

Municipal councillors traded accusations. “We were isolated from this process and the result is visible,” BSP for Bulgaria municipal group chair Ivan Takov said, adding that instead of looking for solutions, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev shifted responsibility to the Sofia Municipal Council.

GERB-UDF councillor Dimitar Vuchev accused Save Sofia and former Sofia Deputy Mayor Iliyan Pavlov of creating a “closed ecosystem”, while Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria councillor Boyko Dimitrov called the strike “a political attack on the Sofia Municipal Administration”. 

Vazrazhdane’s municipal councillor Deyan Nikolov proposed raising building-permit fees, arguing, “We have a very low building permit fee in Sofia” and added that raising this fee would lead to about BGN 30 million in revenue, Nikolov said.

Continue the Change co-chair Kiril Petkov accused GERB leader Boyko Borissov and Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski of a political attack: “Sofia Municipal Council belongs to Borissov and Peevski, the State belongs to them also, and all Sofia residents are paying the price right now, as these two are trying to exert pressure on Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev”.

After Thursday’s four-hour talks, Federation of Transport Workers chief Ivan Kirilov told reporters, “They will decide within the next two to three hours whether the public ground transport will be halted again tomorrow [Friday].”

Chair of the Federation of Transport Trade Unions Alexander Shopov said: “We’ve brought the dialogue back to the negotiating table—not to the streets.” He added "The increase from BGN 100 to BGN 180 is at least some progress.”

Mayor Terziev later outlined limited fiscal options. He warned that each potential revenue boost “risked triggering fresh problems elsewhere”. Deputy Mayor Vasilev said a flat BGN 180 rise “would, however, blunt the policy aimed at attracting drivers and service staff.”

Metro operator Metropolitan said the metro will not suspend its operating mode and will continue to support passenger transportation during the surface-transport protests in Sofia on 16 May, adding that extra trains will keep running on lines 1, 2 and 4, with additional services on line 3, and that the shortened intervals between all metro trains will remain in force.

Late on Thursday, protesters decided to extend their strike for a third day after rejecting Terziev’s latest offer. Union leader Ivan Kirilov said employees will not return until their demand for a BGN 300 across-the-board pay rise is met. He noted the protesters have come down from their initial demand of BGN 400.