Nearly 500 women were left without work in the Burgas region. The reason is that the sewing workshop in the village of Zaychar stopped its activities. The majority of the workers have not received salaries for months, and the company explained to them that they cannot find funds for the salaries.
Most of the seamstresses are long-term workers.
„11 years. I have 5 months to collect my salary. "They kept saying we would get the money," said seamstress Fatme Ramadan.
“We kept waiting for some money to be given to us, little by little, how to support ourselves, I have two children, a family“, added Cemily Ramadan.
Sabiha waited the longest. After two months, she was due to retire, but she was laid off. And because of her long work experience there, she should have received additional remuneration.
„If I have over 10 years of work experience, they give compensation of 6 minimum wages.
- BNT: And now you won't receive it?
- I won't receive it, how can I…", said Sabiha Mustafa.
Until three months ago, nearly 600 people worked in the factory, today the workshop is empty.
„The reason, in my opinion, is - they were two partners, Turkish citizens. They had a fight and one of them went and froze the bank accounts in Turkey, as far as I know“, explained the mayor of the village of Zajcar, Mustafa Hodja.
Despite our attempts, we were unable to contact the Turkish owners of the company. And the seamstresses have collectively filed complaints with the labor inspectorate, where a procedure has already been initiated.
„Submitting a claim by virtue of which we will ask the Burgas District Court to declare the company bankrupt. So that the workers can receive this money from the Receivables Guarantee Fund as quickly as possible, after the court has already ruled, of course,“, explained the director of the Labor Inspectorate in Burgas Pavlin Vaskov.
Of the dismissed seamstresses, 120 have already registered with the Labor Bureau in Ruen, where the workshop is located.
„A large part of the registered unemployed have expressed a desire to engage in seasonal employment during the summer season. Regardless of their desire, they have also been consulted about other employment opportunities“, explained the director of the Labor Bureau – Ruen Aynur Faik.
This is another sewing workshop in Aytos, which is the only one registered with the Labor Bureau with vacant positions. However, the seamstresses there claim that there was a bad attitude towards the workers, which is why they did not want to start work. The remuneration was also minimal. However, by refusing, they lose their unemployment benefits, which they should receive until they get the seasonal work they want at sea.