site.btaGovernment at a Crossroads about Seniority Bonus

Sofia, July 25 (BTA) - The issue of abolishing the seniority bonus remains open, and negotiations about it between employer organizations and the trade unions will start at the first meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) in the autumn.

At Tuesday's meeting between the four employer organizations and government officials, originally planned as a discussion of the investment climate, the business representatives again demanded that the seniority bonus and the minimum contributory incomes be scrapped and that a mechanism be introduced for setting the minimum wage.

Last week the government assured the trade unions that the seniority bonus would not be abolished.

The employer organizations met with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Deputy Prime Ministers Tomislav Donchev and Valeri Simeonov and Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov.

Goranov stressed that both business and union representatives had been asked to hold a good-mannered discussion about the seniority bonus within the NCTC. Asked about the setting of the minimum wage, the Finance Minister said he would like to explore similar mechanisms in leading European economies.

Vassil Velev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, stressed that higher incomes can come from higher economic growth and labour productivity, which take qualified human resources, a better business environment, and larger foreign and local investments.

The participants in the meeting discussed the economic priorities and the reforms supported by employers. The business community praised highly the results of easing the administrative burden, Velev said. "We had set forth ten most pressing problems which have been outstanding for ten years, and five of them are likely to be solved by the year's end. One has already been solved - businesses will not be required to prove they have no obligations to the Exchequer when tendering for public procurement contracts," he said.

After a meeting of the Bulgarian Socialist Party's Executive Bureau, leader Kornelia Ninova said Borissov's government had "torpedoed tripartite dialogue". Valeri Simeonov and MPs of GERB sided with the employers against the seniority bonus, while the Prime Minister sided with the trade unions, which blocked social dialogue, said Ninova.

As to Tuesday's meeting, the social partners exchanged hard words and it is inconceivable that they will be able to sit down at the negotiating table, said Ninova. She added that this would take more than good manners, and urged the Prime Minister and the ministers to say if they agree with the employers that the trade unions are harmful and that workers are freeloaders. The power holders should also state their views on the seniority bonus. "Today the government is covering up the scandal it itself caused," said Ninova, referring to Valeri Simeonov's personal support for abolishing the seniority bonus at an earlier meeting with business representatives.