Bulgaria - 2011

Population:
Capital: Sofia
The poor economic situation provided a difficult climate for unions in which to operate in 2010. Violations of trade union rights were reported in both domestic and international companies. Public servants are excluded from many trade union activities, and the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is limited.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

Economic growth was stagnant in 2010 and by the end of the year the budget deficit was running at 3.9%. The centre-right government has sought to reduce the deficit and there has been opposition to these measures. In March the parties in the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation unanimously agreed on 59 measures for economic stability, relating to fiscal policy, reducing public expenditure, supporting households, labour market reforms and measures within the social insurance system.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Sofia

reported violations- 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

Despite decisions by the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights and the Council of Europe, trade union rights are still not fully guaranteed. The Constitution provides for freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework , however foreign workers need prior authorisation to form a union. Furthermore, although workers are protected against anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

 , the burden of proof rests with the employee. There are also no provisions that protect trade unions against acts of interference in their internal affairs. Collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
is allowed, but not for public servants.

The right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is limited by several restrictive provisions. The duration of the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike must be announced in advance, strikes can only be called in connection with collective disputes and after the exhaustion of all dispute resolution procedures, and public servants may only engage in “symbolic strikes”, which means displaying signs and protest banners. In sectors where the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is banned, there are no alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Also, the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is circumscribed by requirements on the establishment of a minimum service minimum service The operations needed in a public or private establishment during a strike, normally to avoid compromising the life or basic needs of the population or causing irreversible damages.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework , which in the railway sector amounts to an inordinate 50%.

Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Sofia

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

Still no labour courts: In March 2004, the government announced it was examining the possibility of setting up specialised labour courts. The process has continued with ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights assistance.
Frequent harassment: In recent years, unions have reported frequent cases of discrimination and harassment against trade union activists and members, who have been relocated, downgraded or sacked. This has created fear and insecurity, often making workers reluctant to join a trade union. The legal proceedings for the reinstatement of dismissed workers can take a long time, sometimes years, while the sanctions against employers for unfair dismissal are too weak to be dissuasive. In the private sector, some employers have simply banned trade union membership within their enterprise and have forced newly employed workers to sign declarations that they will not establish or join trade unions. Temporary employment contracts are increasingly being used to prevent workers from demanding their rights.
Organising problematic in multinationals: Organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. is especially difficult at new sites of multinational companies. Although some workers in the more recently opened establishments of the Metro commerce chain and plants of American Standard have joined trade unions, it is still very difficult to obtain real union recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. . Multinationals also rarely respect applicable sector-level collective agreements.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Sofia

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Violations

Ending the viability of a union branch in Silistra: At the Sava Dobroplodni theatre in Silistra the entire trade union committee, comprising the head and two secretaries, was dismissed. The subsequent interventions of the Labour Inspectorate were rejected by the employer, who then went on to dismiss more than 90% of the union’s members, effectively removing the branch of the trade union from the theatre.
Freedom of association under threat at IBM Bulgaria: NFTINI Podkrepa, representing workers in the IT sector in Bulgaria, has reported on serious violations of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework at IBM’s global delivery centre in Sofia where workers involved in trade union activities have been subjected to intimidation and harassment. The trade union founded within IBM Bulgaria complies with local legislation and is recognised by the appropriate public administration, and is therefore entitled to full recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. by IBM’s Bulgarian management. Podkrepa has demanded that IBM Bulgaria apply IBM’s internal regulations stipulating the strict application of local legislation, and more broadly to respect internationally recognised workers’ rights to join and form trade unions and to collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.
Hampering union activity in Kostenets: At the Kostenets Stock company in the town of Kostenets, the majority owner has since May 2010 put pressure on the head of the trade union branch in the enterprise with the aim of running down trade union organisation in the factory. Attempts have also been made to prevent the enterprise’s trade union leader from accessing the factory.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Sofia

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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