Trade unions approach Borissov for cooperation on the collective contract

Trade unions called for a meeting with PM Boyko Borissov, asking for his cooperation on the signing of the collective labour contract in Bulgaria's healthcare sector. According to trade unions, that is necessary because despite Minister of Health Desislava Atanasova's public statements that she is ready to cooperate and host the negotiations between trade unions and employers, she has not officially invited them to meet yet. “Although the minister expressed her willingness to cooperate and host a meeting to continue dialogue, there has been neither an invitation, nor such a meeting up to now. Therefore, we reckon that the dialogue is at a standstill and we will call for a meeting with the Prime Minister to ask for his cooperation, since it is obvious that the minister is not willing to sign such a contract,” Dr. Ivan Kokalov from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) told Zdrave.net. “We will put the blame for the failure not on trade unions, but on employers and the minister, who is in fact these employers' employer, because she appoints directors of state-owned hospitals,” Dr. Kokalov added.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) released a statement that the requirement for an increase in the salaries of doctors and nurses is groundless because of the enormous indebtedness of hospitals. According to experts from BIA, the debts of state and municipal hospitals as of May 31, 2012 exceeded BGN 347 mln, of which BGN 88 mln- overdue. Therefore, an increase in salaries can be seen only by employees in hospitals without debts overdue and in good financial state. BIA suggests that the 2013 budget should provide for additional resources to cover part of the obligations and give most healthcare employees a chance of receiving an increase in salaries.

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