site.btaVarna Interior Ministry Officials Demand Higher Salaries, Better Working Conditions

Varna, on the Black Sea, November 21 (BTA) - Security system employees in Varna went on protest Tuesday to demand a raise of salaries and better working conditions.

The prison in the Black Sea port has undergone considerable rehabilitation, but that was only for the prisoners, not for the premises where the staff works, the Chairman of the local branch of the Trade Union of Prison Staff in Bulgaria, Nikolai Tonev said. Nothing has changed in spite of all promises over the years.

The officials demand a 20 per cent raise of salaries and equal working conditions with those in the Interior Ministry. Tonev's colleagues in Varna number about 80 and they receive an average 800 leva a month. A newly-appointed guard receives 540 leva a month while a prisoner who works all month receives a minimum 510 leva, he cited as a paradox of the system.

Krassimir Kostov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Trade Union of Interior Ministry Staff who also chairs the organisation in Varna, added that negotiations to raise salaries in the system have not even started. The next protest of his colleagues, from both Varna and Elhovo, is scheduled for December 22, Border Police Day. The trade union will launch daily protests if the demands for raised salaries and revisions to the Interior Ministry Act are not met.

Kostov also said the Bulgarian officials will receive the support of the European Police Union. The European trade union has already redirected part of the events it has planned for the first half of 2018 towards Bulgaria. This includes both organization of conferences and meetings with diplomats. The aim is for the union to support its Bulgarian colleagues in all possible ways.