The national collective labor agreement for the "Higher Education" branch should be applied in all state higher education schools - this is what the chairwoman of the National Branch Union "Higher Education and Science" at the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (CITUB) Lilyana Valcheva and the representative of the Association of State Higher Education Schools Miroslav Dachev insist on.
The request is written into the agreement signed on August 19, 2026 by the Association of State Higher Education Schools, the union at the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (CITUB) and the "Higher Education" Union at the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (CITUB) Podkrepa. The document is valid until August 19, 2028 and has already been entered as valid in the register of the National Institute for Conciliation and Arbitration.
In Article 22, the parties state:
„They submit a general request to the Minister of Labor and Social Policy to extend the application of the agreement to all state higher education institutions.“
If the procedure is concluded with the issuance of an order, the rules agreed in the document will be able to cover all state higher education institutions, and not only the organizations and employers that have signed it. By virtue of Article 51b of the Labor Code, the Minister may extend the agreement or its individual clauses upon a general request of the parties and written consent of all nationally representative organizations of workers and employers. The order must be published in the “State Gazette“.
What salaries are set
For 2027 and the following budget years, the contract sets a goal for the average salary of academic staff in state higher education institutions to reach at least 180% of the average gross salary for the country for the last 12 months. The minimum basic salary for the lowest academic position is specified as a threshold of at least 125% of the average gross salary.
According to the agreements, the additional remuneration for work experience and professional experience must be 1.3% on the basic salary for each recognized year of service. Targeted funding is also planned for a supplement of 300 euros for the acquired educational and scientific degree of "doctor".
The parties have also set measures to achieve an additional remuneration of 300 euros for the scientific degree of "doctor of sciences", but on condition that the necessary funds are provided.
The agreement does not determine the same final salaries for all universities. The specific amounts of the basic remuneration and supplements must be agreed in the collective labor contracts of the individual higher education institutions and in individual labor relations. Thus, the sectoral document sets common thresholds and goals, while university bargaining retains its role in determining the specific amounts.
The document proposed for confirmation by the MLSP is far from legally undisputed - a sectoral collective labor agreement can only be signed by a nationally representative employer organization, which the Association of State Higher Education Schools is not. The association, led by the rector of NATFA, does not even have the pretensions according to its statute to play the role of such a body, as only a few of the state higher education schools are members of it. In addition, it is unacceptable for a sectoral collective labor agreement not to cover the entire sector, and the stated exclusion of private universities violates this requirement, experts explain.
The Association of State Higher Education Schools thus demonstrates its ambition to replace the official rectors' organization according to the Higher Education Act - the Council of Rectors, with Prof. Dachev being the initiator of the attacks on its legitimacy.
A decision by the national representative organizations is required
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy has sent letters to the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria, the Confederation of Bulgarian Unions of Trade Unions, the Bulgarian Industrial Chamber, the Podkrepa Confederation of Trade Unions, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria. Written statements are expected from the organizations on the request for extension of the contract.
At the moment, the public register of NIPA reflects that the contract for higher education is in force, but no order of the Minister of Labor has been published for its extension. Therefore, the general application of the agreed clauses in all state higher education institutions still depends on the completion of the procedure and the necessary written consent of the national representative organizations.