site.btaPsychiatrists Rally for 50% Pay Raise and Improved Working Conditions

Psychiatrists and nurses from state psychiatric hospitals protested in front of the Health Ministry Wednesday demanding a 50% increase in their salaries, a change in their job classification, and improved working conditions. Representatives from the trade union chapters of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) at the state psychiatric hospitals also joined the protest.

Natasha Pencheva, trade union leader at the state psychiatric hospital in Tsarev Brod, told BTA that the current starting salary for a psychiatrist in a state psychiatric hospital is BGN 2,100 (just over EUR 1,500), which she called "inadequate". The planned 5% salary increase, as provided in the state budget, is a most humiliating attitude towards psychiatric specialists. "Our work is serious, responsible, quite hard, and definitely undervalued in recent years," she added. Nurses at state psychiatric hospitals currently earn between BGN 1,600 and 1,650, Pencheva said.

She said further that psychiatrists work with patients who are at times aggressive and unpredictable. "In many cases, they are brought to us under the Health Act or the Criminal Code, which means that the court has decided that these people are dangerous to themselves and others," she explained.

The protesters submitted a declaration with their demands to the Health Ministry. The Ministry invited them to a meeting on Thursday.

During the protest, traffic in the area was briefly blocked.