2 December, 2011Unions in Bulgaria organized a nationwide protest action on November 30 in response to the government's announced austerity measures. The Government later backed down from pensions cuts.
BULGARIA: Some 25 to 35 thousand people gathered behind the banners of IMF affiliate TU Metalicy, Metal Electro and the two Bulgarian union confederations - KNSB and Podkrepa - to protest against announced austerity measures hitting workers. They were joined by colleagues from FSLI-Metal and Solidaritatea Metal of Romania, as well as from VASAS in Hungary.
The Government had proposed to increase the retirement age with an additional year from the beginning of 2012, breaking an agreement on pension reform reached less than a year ago. The claimed purpose is to cut the deficit in the National Security System budget. Another proposed austerity measure is mass redundancies in the Bulgarian railways.
The government later lessened its cutback proposals, but still wants to increase the retirement age with four months - a measure that the Bulgarian federations reject, as the pension age has already been increased with five years for women and three years for men the last 15 years. The federations are prepared to call for a national general strike.
The Government had proposed to increase the retirement age with an additional year from the beginning of 2012, breaking an agreement on pension reform reached less than a year ago. The claimed purpose is to cut the deficit in the National Security System budget. Another proposed austerity measure is mass redundancies in the Bulgarian railways.
The government later lessened its cutback proposals, but still wants to increase the retirement age with four months - a measure that the Bulgarian federations reject, as the pension age has already been increased with five years for women and three years for men the last 15 years. The federations are prepared to call for a national general strike.