site.btaCoal Miners and Energy Workers Yet to Decide If Roadblocks Will Continue

Protesting coal miners and energy workers in the southern coal region of Stara Zagora will decide on Thursday whether they will carry on with the road blocks, Biser Binev of the Podkrepa trade union at the Maritsa Iztok coal mines said Wednesday. They have been blocking major thoroughfares in this country for 13 days now trying to press the government into accepting their demands for pulling out the territorial just transition plans for the coal regions.

Binev said that the protesters have agreed on several demands that will be sent to the National Assembly, the President's Office, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission. Their main demand remains unchanged: that the government withdraw immediately the territorial just transition plans recently submitted to the European Commission, the leader of the Podkrepa trade union mentioned.

The government sent the territorial just transition plans to Brussels in late September. Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov has said repeatedly that they do not intend to withdraw them now but has urged coal sector workers to join a debate on possible revisions of the plans.

Podkrepa's Binev said that the protestors also insist to keep the perks guaranteed for them under the effective collective agreement.