Mayor Vasil Terziev suggested at a briefing at the Sofia Municipal Council (SOS) today that there will be a strike in public transport in Sofia in the "election window".
A few days ago, the Sofia mayor met with representatives of the public transport unions and said that he would not back down from the position that additional funds for transport cannot be allocated without real reforms, transparency and control over the management of the system, BTA recalls.
Today, the mayor said the goal is a better transport service, not higher salaries, as well as a long-term view of reforms. When there is a tens of millions "hole" in the economic framework of transport, the first point of the conversation with the unions cannot be how much more money to add in the old way without reforms and without clarity about where it will come from, said Mayor Terziev. He announced that all advance payments to transport, which were necessary to maintain the activities of the companies, have been made.
At the moment, there is no reform in urban transport, the mayor pointed out and added that the management of the transport companies is the same - temporary, competitions for permanent management have not started and the report to the SOS on the condition of the companies and the plan for their recovery is not being forwarded.
According to the Sofia mayor, a commitment from the state is necessary, because there is no way the Municipality can take on a larger increase in costs until the "hole" in transport is closed. We need to bring it to zero so that we don't have to talk about what lines to cut and whether to release people, the mayor said. According to him, an answer must be found where these tens of millions will come from.
In response to a question from BTA whether he plans to talk with the acting Minister of Finance Georgi Klisurski, who was previously the deputy mayor for finance, about state aid, Vasil Terziev replied that it doesn't matter to him whether it is the acting or regular government. "We are going with a list of demands. We hope that every time, regardless of who is the prime minister, there will be a hearing," Terziev said.
He said that he asked the unions during the meeting where they proposed that the money for transport come from - from the changes in parking, which are in court and for which the BSP group in the SOS voted against, from changing the prices of transport documents, from reforms in the companies themselves, so that the money is spent more effectively.
Ivan Kirilov, the municipal councilor from the group of "BSP for Bulgaria", who is also the chairman of the Federation of Transport Workers (FTR) at the "Podkrepa" trade union, at a briefing in the Sofia Municipal Council (SOS) denied that there will be a strike in the Sofia city transport.
It is a lie that there will be a strike in the Sofia city transport, said Ivan Kirilov.
Kirilov said that after May 19 last year, for the first time that day, a meeting was held between the mayor and the unions. This shows the consistency of the social dialogue under Vasil Terziev, Kirilov pointed out.
"It is puzzling that after the meeting the mayor's PR people came up with some untrue position, ironic and mocking the union representatives", said the unionist. He described as false the claim that after almost every statement by the mayor during the meeting, the unions said that there would be a protest. According to Kirilov, the differences between the two sides are that the mayor wants to give money to a certain group of workers, while the unions do not divide the workers into drivers and fitters, accountants and lawyers. Here are our differences, Kirilov commented.
He allowed for the possibility of protests, only if necessary, "as in the past there were protests against a series of mayors, including Fandakova, Terziev, as well as during the time of various governments - regular and caretaker".
Ivan Kirilov stated that during the meeting with the mayor, specific amounts for salary increases were not mentioned. We have not made a specific request, we are waiting for calculations to be made, we know that there is no municipal and state budget. It is clear to us that this year will be difficult and heavy, but the mayor proposed a big nothing, the municipal councilor pointed out.
He drew the mayor's attention to the fact that currently the Minister of Finance is a person from his team - his former deputy mayor Georgi Klisurski. That is, it should be easier to help both public transport and other sectors to which the state has a commitment, Kirilov said.
Ivan Kirilov announced at the briefing that the previous regular government over the past nine months, through decrees of the Council of Ministers, has twice allocated 15 million leva additional funds to support public transport. The last one was a day or two before the end of the government in resignation and it was thanks to this that funds were provided for salaries and advance payments to public transport workers, which is being kept secret by Mayor Terziev, said the municipal councilor.
He added that he categorically supports holding competitions for the election of regular boards of directors of transport companies in Sofia, since currently municipal commercial companies have temporary management.