site.btaTrade Unions: Employers' Reactionary Approach to Social Dialogue Causes Tension

Trade Unions: Employers' Reactionary Approach to Social Dialogue Causes Tension

Sofia, February 9 (BTA) - The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour claim that employers have taken a reactionary approach to social dialogue which provokes tension. The trade unions' joint position was prompted by actions and documents of the Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers (AOBE), their press offices said.

The unions expressed concern over the state and progress of social dialogue at national level, and the possible downsides for dialogue and collective bargaining at industry and company level.

The two unions argue that the national leaderships of employers send a message that there is no way out of the impasse into which they have pushed the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. The unions attribute the signs of a standstill and unproductiveness to the employers' positions on minimum contributory incomes, the minimum wage and its further increase, and income from labour in general.

CITUB and Podkrepa also find unproductiveness in the reluctance to discuss the causes of the shortage of skilled labour, and in undisguised unmotivated calls to end collective bargaining at industry and company level. The trade unions also hold that antisocial instructions on aspects of collective bargaining are issued on behalf and on the site of AOBE, some of which are openly anti-trade union.

CITUB and Podkrepa expect a clear reaction from the caretaker government in favour of unbroken, productive national tripartite social dialogue. To this end, the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation should resume work. The document also says: "We expect the President to commit to the resumption of normal relations between employers organizations and trade unions at national level."