The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) has addressed the Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva with a request to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court (CS) regarding texts in the 2026 State Budget Act related to the minimum wage (MW) and length of service.
They specify that this concerns paragraphs 11, 12 and 44 of the transitional and final provisions of the bill. The letter is published on the union's website.
We are convinced that the Constitutional Court's intervention is necessary to protect the principles of the rule of law, the supremacy of the Constitution, the protection of labor and the guarantee of predictable and stable labor legislation, say the CITUB.
According to the union, an attempt is being made “to make fundamental changes to the labor legislation in a manner that does not correspond to either the subject matter of the budget law or the established standards for quality and transparent lawmaking“.
The CITUB writes that with the adoption of the texts, the general regime of work experience is changed for an indefinite period and the current mechanism for determining the amount of the minimum wage is suspended. The union emphasizes that this also neglects the role of social partners in discussing long-term solutions.
The Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (CBU) points out that there is a decision of the Constitutional Court from 2020, according to which “given the special purpose of the State Budget Act, permanent amendments to substantive laws that are not directly determined by the implementation of the budget cannot be made through it“.
A few days ago, the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (CBU) insisted that the proposal to suspend the current mechanism for determining the minimum wage be withdrawn between the first and second readings of the draft State Budget Act for 2026.
Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva also called for a review of the proposed changes to the Labor Code, which affect the method of calculating and recognizing work experience, as well as the mechanism for determining the minimum wage.
After in On Thursday, MPs discussed the proposals in the 2026 draft budget in the plenary hall; today, MPs will vote on the final texts.