Their events will emphasize the rights of working Bulgarians and will draw attention to the measures that are necessary to be taken, according to them, to improve the conditions at the workplace. CT “Support“ will organize a festive procession and a rock concert today in Sofia, and the KNSB will launch an information campaign "I know my labor rights".
Initiatives of trade unions
We will mark this holiday under the motto “Jobs, salaries and security”, said the vice-president of KT “Support“ Ioannis Partheniotis. The procession in the capital will start at 11:00 a.m. from "Sveta Nedelya" Square, will pass through "Vitosha" Blvd., the National Palace of Culture and the Bridge of Lovers and will end in the South Park behind the museum. ;The Earth and the People”, where a concert under the title “Rock for Labor” will be opened. The procession will be led by the student brass band of the First English High School in Sofia, followed by a children's troupe from the Children's Palace in the capital, Parteniotis said. The concert will last over nine hours and more than 15 rock bands will take part in it. Among the popular musicians and groups that will sing and play are Vasko Krpkata and “Poduyane Blues Band”, Milena and “Competitor“, “Atlas“, “Sprint“, “Horizon“, “Crisis“, “Etalon“, Iskren Petsov and “Latino partisans“, Koceto Kalki with “Medicus“ etc., Partheniotis told.
With theoretical and video materials, in an understandable language, we will deploy our campaign for the labor rights of Bulgarians, the vice-president of KNSB Todor Kapitanov told BTA. We will talk about the most important things not only today, but throughout the month, he commented. And he explained that KNSB will use social and digital platforms to reach more people, especially the young, for easier access to labor legal advice if needed. For this purpose, this month the National Security Council will launch its own podcast with the participation of lawyers and economists, who will look at various signals and give advice to people on how to deal with a problem at work. The regional structures of the KNSB will conduct various activities such as forums, open receptions, etc., Kapitanov also pointed out.
Closer to Young Workers on Labor Day
Kapitanov and Partheniotis expressed the opinion that Labor Day is an occasion for more young people to learn about their labor rights. According to them, May Day is a holiday that reminds of the struggles for better working conditions such as the eight-hour work day, the five-day work week, insurances, the right to paid leave, sick leave, maternity leave, etc. According to the vice-presidents of both unions, these things should not be taken for granted.
According to CT “Podprepa“ The first of May is a day to take stock of the results achieved to protect people's interests, stressed Ioannis Parteniotis. It is also a day of gratitude for all that the generations have built within 138 years (since 1886, when there was the great strike wave in the USA demanding an eight-hour work day, ed.), he added. And he drew attention to the fact that in different countries there is a debate about reducing the working day and the working week. According to Partheniotis, there are currently three main challenges for jobs – the wars, the Green Deal, digitalisation. In response to a question whether young workers already recognize May Day as their holiday, the vice-president of KT “Potkrepa“ said that at the beginning of the declaration of Labor Day in our country there was distancing. He believes that this is how individual political formations have come to recognize May Day as their holiday. Partheniotis added that with his initiatives today, the message "that trade unions are equally distant from political parties" will be raised again. Trade unions unite people with different political views, but with common social and labor demands and interests, he was categorical. And we from KT “Support“ we will also try through this holiday to explain to young people that all these gains in work, which we are used to, are due to efforts and struggle over the years, Partheniotis also commented.
May Day continues to be an important holiday for two reasons – because it is really thanks to the labor movement of 138 years ago that we currently have the eight-hour working day and all other rights that were won with sweat, I would say with blood, comments Todor Kapitanov. The other reason is that we must realize every day that labor rights are not a given and we should continue to fight for them, he specified. According to Kapitanov, the need to continue efforts in this direction can be seen in the data from the report of the National Security Service of Bulgaria on reports of violations of rights at work in Bulgaria. Yesterday, the trade union announced more than 200,000 violations, among which the most frequent is related to assigning work outside the worker's duties. More and more young people are becoming interested in what is happening at the workplace and what violations to watch out for, noted Kapitanov. And he added that assistance from the union is sought online, therefore the attention of the experts will be directed to the more accessible way of counseling for young people.
More security for workers
It turns out that an average of five violations are found per inspection by the control authorities, comments Todor Kapitanov. This is important for us to know, because every day KNSB receives signals related to labor law violations of any nature – from health and safety working conditions to compliance with working hours, etc., he specified. The signals in the National Security Council indicate that, despite the rights won, we must continue to direct the signals to the control bodies and address our requests to the relevant institutions, Kapitanov believes.
In his words, the Labor Code is one of the most violated laws. There is a need for more control and strengthening of the role of trade union organizations in the implementation of this control activity. We want a change in the legislation in the interests of workers regarding the recent transposition of the Directive on adequate minimum wages and the promotion of collective bargaining, Kapitanov also stated. We believe that collective bargaining is the key to better and transparent working relations between employee and employer, added the vice-president of KNSB.
Ioannis Parteniotis also pointed to the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive and collective bargaining as a priority. With the adoption of this directive in 2022, a two-year grace period was given during which the member states could transpose its meaning and philosophy into their own legislation, he said and specified that this grace period expires in November of this year. Partheniotis recalled the amendments to the Labor Code, which defined a new mechanism for determining the minimum wage. In his words, while business believes that with the mechanism “the philosophy of social dialogue is accordingly lost” and another option "related to labor productivity" should be sought, the unions are of the opinion that there should be such a change in this algorithm that would show that "this amount of the minimum wage is adequate".
The formula is based on data that does not correspond to the current moment of determining the amount of the minimum wage, Partheniotis said. The cost of living should weigh in determining the minimum wage, he also explained. If there is something that needs to be improved on the formula, it should be in the dialogue between unions and employers, the vice-president of KT “Support“ pointed out. Partheniotis also explained that the increase in the coverage of collective labor agreements in the various economic sectors of the member states is also expected.