site.btaTransport Unions Deny Receiving Invitation for Talks as Sofia's Surface Transit Strike Enters Fifth Day

The Federation of Transport Trade Unions at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) has not received an invitation for negotiations at 8:00 AM with the Mayor of Sofia, Vassil Terziev, and the only source of information about this starting time comes from the Mayor’s media appearances, CITUB said in a press release Sunday.

They added that the negotiation team from the Federation will be in front of the Sofia Municipality building Monday, May 19, at 7:45 AM, in the hope that the dialogue will continue.

"We express hope that the dialogue will proceed in the name of the workers, who are expecting decisions on the demands raised, and in the name of the citizens of Sofia, to whom we once again offer our apologies for the ongoing blockade of the surface public transport," the Federation of Transport Trade Unions at CITUB further stated.

For the fifth consecutive day today, buses, trams, and trolleybuses in Sofia did not leave their depots due to the protest of surface public transport workers who demand higher pay. Only the metro continues to operate.

Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev told journalists earlier in the day that his main priority is to restore the operation of the surface public transport in the capital. When asked whether he would meet again with representatives of the protesters, the mayor replied: "I have no reason to talk to people who are holding an entire city hostage."

Terziev invited the protesters to talks at City Hall on Monday, but only if they put the city's surface transport into motion. "I do not see what it means to negotiate. There are some unreasonable demands on the table and they say, ‘Until we get them, we are not going to stop,’" Terziev said. He said there needs to be an honest conversation about what is possible and what is not possible.