site.btaSkills Mapping Campaign Launched for Maritsa East 3 TPP Workers Facing Layoffs

The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy reported here on Tuesday that a skills mapping campaign will be launched for the workers at the ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP. The outgoing Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Ivanka Shalapatova, conferred on Tuesday with the National Employment Agency Executive Director, Smilen Valov, the Maritsa East 3 TPP executive director, Vassil Shtonov, with representatives from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Labour Confederation.

The meeting discussed the TPP's decision to announced on March 22, 2024, to lay off about a third of the staff, up to 160 people, starting mid-May. The company's headquarters and corporate office employ a total of 450 people.

Shtonov invited CITUB and Podkrepa to begin mapping the skills of workers facing redundancy. "Within the upcoming weeks, we will start identifying the employees to be laid off first according to the criteria agreed with the unions. We have agreed to pay severance ranging from six to ten monthly salaries. However, it is important for us to help the laid-off workers build new skills, and to provide training to those who will remain at the plant, so that they can be involved in building new facilities with a smaller carbon footprint," Shtonov said.

A working group has been formed by representatives of the ministries of energy, economy, innovation, regional development, environment and finance, in coordination with the Labour Ministry. The group's goal is to create a comprehensive transition plan for those affected by the closure of mines and thermal power plants in the Maritsa Basin. The group is scheduled to meet in the second week of April.

The ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP stopped feeding electricity to the national grid late February, after the plant's contract for electricity purchase with the National Electric Company expired.