site.btaGross Monthly Salary of Emergency Centre Driver to Be BGN 1,500

The basic gross monthly salary of drivers in emergency medical care centres will be BGN 1,500, with an average increase of BGN 258, Deputy Health Minister Boyko Penkov told journalists on Monday. The salary will be effective from August 1.

After the agreed 22% increase for emergency workers, a doctor with two specialties will receive BGN 3,300, he added. Talks on the new Collective Labour Agreement are planned for this fall, but in order to have compensated wage changes, they must be implemented now, Penkov explained.

Health Minister Hristo Hinkov said that the Zashtita Trade Union had proposed wage increases for emergency drivers by BGN 600, BGN 500 increase for paramedics, BGN 400 increase for doctors and BGN 330 for nurses, but that they were not approved. The sums proposed by the Zashtita Trade Union  exceed the additional BGN 30 million provided from the State Budget, he pointed out.

Earlier on Monday, representatives of the Zashtita Trade Union  protested in front of the Council of Ministers' building. Because of the disagreement over the distribution of the additional remuneration funds, they demanded the resignation of the entire government. After the end of the protest, the union stated that their protest actions will continue on a national scale.

Talks with the Zashtita Trade Union have come to an end, Minister Hinkov also said. He recalled that he had 4-5 meetings with union representatives, where the situation was explained. "The easiest thing is to ask for a resignation, its more challenging to understand in depth what the problem is," he also said in response to a question about whether he would resign, as the protesters demanded.