Public transport workers took to the National protest under the slogan: "Decent work – decent pay! Without transport there is no economy!"
The action was organized by the Federation of Transport Workers "Podkrepa" and the Federation of Transport Trade Unions at the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions with a demand for a wage increase, BNR recalls.
At 8 a.m., traffic was blocked at three key intersections in the capital - on the "Dragan Tsankov" and "Evlogi and Hristo Georgievi" boulevards, "Orlov Most" and "Macedonia" square.
There will also be a protest march to the Ministry of Finance and the Sofia Municipality along central Sofia streets.
The request is for an increase in the basic salaries of all 7,000 people who work in municipal transport companies – "Stolichen Autotransport", the Center for Urban Mobility, "Stolichen Elektrotransport" and "Metropoliten" by the same fixed amount, said the chairman of the Federation of Transport Workers "Podkrepa" Ivan Kirilov.
He added that after three meetings, the municipality's proposal was 100 leva, which the workers described as unsatisfactory and offensive.
"We held 17 meetings in the divisions of the City Transport and people wanted to oppose it. We have submitted to the Sofia Municipality a draft cooperation agreement, with a term of three years, in which we have set a salary increase for each individual year, as follows for 2025 - 400 leva, for 2026 - 500 BGN and for 2027 - 600 BGN, but in return we received a proposal to increase salaries for this year by 100 BGN," Kirilov said.
According to the calculations of the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions, an increase in the state subsidy of 29 million BGN is necessary for public transport in the capital, for Varna - 6.5 million BGN, for Ruse - 700 thousand BGN, for the "Automobile Administration" - 4.5 million BGN.
"Extremely unacceptable, offensive, humiliating, unsatisfactory" - this is how the chairman of the Federation of Transport Workers in "Podkrepa" Ivan Kirilov described the proposal of the Sofia Municipality to increase wages by 100 leva. He reminded that the union's demand is for 400 leva.
He stated to the Bulgarian National Radio that the funds allocated by the Ministry of Finance are insufficient. According to him, in the Sofia Municipal Council "financial maneuvers can be carried out".
There is no risk of blocking the metro today, assured the union chairman, who does not rule out moving to effective strike actions at the next stage - most likely after Easter. The collection of signatures for an effective strike has begun, Kirilov also announced.