The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) insists that the proposal to suspend the current mechanism for determining the minimum wage (MW) be withdrawn between the first and second readings of the draft State Budget Act for 2026. The trade union organization calls for the current legislation to remain in force until a new mechanism is adopted. This is stated in a position statement issued by the union.
The Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions believes that it must be ensured that a future new model for determining the amount of the minimum wage will be based on a real tripartite dialogue and shared responsibility of the social partners.
On July 7, the draft Law on the State Budget of Bulgaria for 2026 was adopted on the first vote by the Committee on Budget and Finance. It is planned to review the mechanism for determining the minimum wage, and until a new mechanism is determined, the minimum wage is planned to remain at its current level of 620 euros. On Wednesday, the bill was voted on at first reading in the plenary hall. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Galab Donev stated to the deputies that this budget marks the beginning of postponed or thwarted reforms. Among them, he pointed out the abolition of the mechanisms for linking wages to the average and minimum wage, setting deadlines for changing the method of determining the minimum wage, planning the first phase of administrative reform, etc.
„We express categorical disagreement with the proposal made in §44 of the draft of the ZDBRB for 2026. This text suspends the current legislation, „freezing“ the statutory minimum wage of the country for an indefinite period until „the adoption of the changes“, the position of the CITUB also states.
The union believes that such an approach puts the incomes of the lowest-paid workers and employees at risk, deepens social inequalities and creates serious uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian families. The CITUB also believes that the decision would give an unjustified advantage to one party in the upcoming negotiations, and the state “is deviating from its role as an impartial guarantor of social dialogue“.