Bulgaria must move away from the cheap labor model, stated "Progressive Bulgaria" (PB) in a declaration on the occasion of the World Day for Decent Work - October 7. It was read by PB MP Maria Todorova from the parliamentary rostrum.
"Bulgaria has been represented as an attractive economy for too long because of one of its "advantages", which was cheap labor. This cannot be a national strategy," pointed out "Progressive Bulgaria". "Our goal is an economy of investments, technologies, high added value and its high productivity. But this change will only make sense if its results reach the people," the parliamentary group also said. "That is why the economy is not just gross domestic product, the economy is quality of life and there is no real economic success if statistics are growing and the working person does not feel it in his own home," said PB MP Maria Todorova. "That is why for us, income policy cannot be separated from economic policy. Incomes must grow sustainably together with productivity, investments, qualifications and economic growth," she pointed out and added that this is also the meaning of changing the mechanism for determining the minimum wage in the Labor Code.
"Bulgaria's ambition cannot be for more people to receive a minimum wage. The ambition must be for fewer and fewer people to depend on it, and this can only be done with higher productivity, better education, more qualifications and more investments in sectors that create high added value. Therefore, our first clear commitment is that income policy should be a policy of economic growth and increasing the value of Bulgarian labor," said "Progressive Bulgaria".
Our second commitment is to the qualifications and skills of people, said Maria Todorova. She noted that artificial intelligence, automation, digitalization are already changing the labor market, professions will disappear, others will change and new ones will emerge. We cannot allow technological progress to create a new social division between people who have the knowledge to be part of the new economy and those who remain outside it, said the MP from the PB. In her words, the best protection against unemployment tomorrow is knowledge today.
Our third commitment is to protect decent labor and decent business, said Maria Todorova. "There is no decent work when part of the salary is given in an envelope. There is no decent work when a person officially works 8 hours, but actually works 12. There is no decent work when workplace safety is seen as an expense that must be saved", she commented. Therefore, the fight against the shadow economy and undeclared work is a protection not only for the worker, it is also a protection for the honest employer who pays real wages, social security contributions and taxes and complies with labor legislation. He should not be punished by the market for being correct, the PB MP pointed out. Without a successful business, there are no sustainable jobs, but without qualified, motivated and decently paid people, there is no successful business, she noted.
We cannot talk about labor separately from the demographic crisis, Maria Todorova pointed out. She also noted that there is another Bulgaria that they are obliged to talk about - Bulgaria outside the few large cities. It is not normal for the postal code to determine a person's professional perspective, she commented. Therefore, in her words, the policy for decent work is also a regional policy.
"Human labor is not just an expense in an economic account. Behind labor stands a person, behind a person stands a family, behind the millions of working Bulgarians stands the future of Bulgaria. Our task is for this future to be here, in Bulgaria, with work that has meaning, with income that provides security, and with work that brings dignity," stated the "Progressive Bulgaria".