This morning, as a sign of protest, 26 lines of public transport in Sofia will not run on their routes, and employees will protest in front of the "Zemlyane" garage, BNT reported.
The affected lines are: 102, 83, 11, 54, 42, 64, 111, x9, x10, 63, 84, 77, 304, 260, 108, 802, 805, 803, 56, 44, 47, 49, 59, 61, 66 and 107
The reason - the disputes between the three unions of public transport workers regarding the conclusion of the new collective labor agreement. The old one expired on Tuesday.
The organizer of the protest is the Federation of Transport Unions under the CITUB. According to them, there is no desire for dialogue with the management of the capital's transport and this is blocking the adoption of a new collective labor agreement.
"At 4:30 in front of the "Zemlyane" garage, the Federation of Transport Unions under the CITUB will protest and wait for the employer to come out and until he appears and starts negotiations, we will not release the vehicles to leave the garage," said Todor Kapitanov, Vice President of the CITUB.
However, the Union of Transport Unions in Bulgaria has a different opinion. According to them, it is the union under the CITUB that is blocking the discussions on the drafting of a new collective labor agreement by refusing to participate. According to them, the misunderstandings between two trade union organizations should not be transferred to "Stolichni autotransport" and the citizens should be the ones who suffer.
"I am surprised by this decision about the protest, because we do not believe that these misunderstandings between two trade union organizations should be transferred to the company and that Sofia residents should suffer and that we should create anxious expectations for Sofia residents before the holidays that they will be left without public transport", commented Ekaterina Yordanova - Union of Transport Unions in Bulgaria.
"Stolichni autotransport" came out with the position that they are doing everything necessary for employees to receive their salaries and Christmas allowances ahead of schedule.