site.btaTrade Union Leader Expects Tensions in Many Economic Sectors in Autumn

Trade Union Leader Expects Tensions in Many Economic Sectors in Autumn

Varna, on the Black Sea, August 15 (BTA) - "A number of economic
 sectors will see serious tensions this coming autumn,"
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB)
President Plamen Dimitrov predicted here on Saturday. He
specified that protest actions and strikes cannot be ruled out.

Dimitrov singled out the energy sector as a potential
flashpoint. He sees problems in the increase of electricity
prices for business customers and in the decline of many of the
smaller companies in the sector, as well as of the nuclear power
 plant.

Even before the summer, tensions have built up at the Hail
Suppression Agency, the Irrigation Systems Company and other
agricultural entities, the CITUB leader said. He also expects
conflicts in the culture system because museums, community
centres and libraries are underfinanced and will probably run
out of money in October-November. "There are public-financed
systems where wages have not been raised for six years now, and
tensions are mounting," Dimitrov added. In his words, health
care is also bound for shocks. "Unless the [Health] Minister
finds a compromise version for his proposals, tensions are
inevitable because the [medical] profession does not accept many
 of his ideas," Dimitrov said.

Regarding the work of the National Council for Tripartite
Cooperation, the CITUB leader said that meetings are held on a
regular basis but the effectiveness is not yet up to the mark.
"The pension reform was the only area in which we managed to
demonstrate a working dialogue with the various partners making
all possible concessions," Dimitrov said. In his words, further
discussions on the education reform are forthcoming in the
autumn because a number of key moot points remain to be
addressed.