site.btaCitizens Protest Against Trade Unions' Support for Recent Public Transport Workers' Protest

Citizens gathered on Friday in front of the building of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria in Sofia to protest against its support of the protest of surface public transport workers in the capital.

The protest under the slogan Against the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria and the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa: No to Prioritizing Low-Skilled Labour over Knowledge was organized on Facebook by lawyer Petar Petrov. Over 300 people confirmed their presence at the protest on the social network. At noon, the announced starting time, about a dozen people were present in front of the building of the Confederation.

“We oppose this blackmail, the capital was under blockade,” the organizer of the protest Petar Petrov said. According to him, in this case the trade unions did not do what they should have. “Many facts and circumstances have come to light. What is the administration like and how overstaffed it is. The fact is that the staff is more than that of medium-sized banks in Bulgaria,” Petrov said.

“If we take the average number of passengers who use public transport in Sofia, then this organization has revenues of BGN 400,000 on average per day. I do not see how in a month these proceeds are not enough for the company to survive,” the organizer of the protest added. “With all due respect to their work, instead of the protesters turning to their internal rules to see if the problem lies within, they were used and blocked movement in the capital,” Petrov said.

“Imagine if tomorrow every sector decides to stop its activities - banks, hospitals, courts, police, what if everyone stops and says the state owes them,” Petrov said.

According to him, the protest he organized was quite successful, although not everyone who said they would come on Facebook came. “We raised the question for consideration - should the state budget be responsible for people from every profession who consider that they can block a capital, a country,” Petrov said.