The direct losses alone from the lack of ground transport for 6 days amount to 4 million leva. This was stated by Ivan Takov, chairman of the Local Coalition group "BSP for Bulgaria" and the Standing Committee on Transport and Road Safety in the SOS on the air of Bulgaria ON AIR television this morning. "If this transport strike had lasted a month, the direct losses would have been as much as the funds needed for the requested increase in the salaries of those working in public transport, he said. Here I do not include the overall economic effect on the capital and the country, which will be registered from the lack of public transport in Sofia for 6 days. I'm only talking about direct income such as the sale of transportation documents.
Ivan Takov is categorical that people who bought long-term transportation documents should be compensated for those 6 days in which there was no ground transportation. According to him, this is a technical issue that will be easily resolved.
The chairman of the group of the Local Coalition "BSP for Bulgaria" in the SOS noted that dealing with this crisis in transportation is nothing more than urgently extinguishing a fire. "The problems in transportation are huge and dealing with them requires a completely different approach. It requires, above all, a dialogue between the mayor and the political groups in the SOS, as well as between the political groups themselves. It requires joint work, because dealing with the problems is not within the power of one person alone, commented Ivan Takov. Therefore, my advice to the mayor is to start negotiations with the unions for next year right now and include us in them. This is the normal work process. Finding a balance implies reasonable concessions from both sides. Otherwise, things will not work out."
Ivan Takov added that the members of the transport committee are currently working on an economic framework, the basis of which was prepared by "Save Sofia". "Of course, we improved some things from it and took into account the demands of the unions for the salaries of transport workers," he explained. I think that "Save Sofia" put a watermelon peel on the mayor by not introducing this economic framework to the committee. And because Terziev obviously does not understand things, he stepped on it. And in the end, they left him completely alone. The truth is that they started the fire, and we managed to put it out in a week. However, that is not how it is done. Because the next fire they start, we may not be able to put it out".
Ivan Takov once again stated that there is enough money in the budget to increase the salaries of transport workers by 300 leva. "If he knew how to conduct negotiations with the unions, they could have agreed to a smaller increase. But this is a matter of conversations, of convictions, of a medium-term and long-term vision, which are not only related to pay, but also to working conditions. I heard that the mayor and his deputy for finance are talking about reform. And what have they been doing for a year and a half? Why didn't they propose this reform? I look forward to seeing specifics about it. Not for them to talk to the media about reform and the unification of transport companies into one, I want to see a project with the necessary data from analyses. So that we can assess which option would be better. Everything else is just talk".
The chairman of the group of the Local Coalition "BSP for Bulgaria" in the SOS pointed out that the transport crisis is a very clear expression of a class conflict. "Perhaps Terziev was told that his voters do not use public transport, commented Ivan Takov. That is probably why he did not want to solve this problem. However, for us, those working in transport, as well as people using public transport, are extremely important. And transport is the circulatory system of the city. Back in the campaign for the local elections in 2023, in our "Manifesto for a Democratic City", we clearly stated who we represent in the Sofia Municipal Council. That is why we have elected councilors from the unions in our group. And we also have representatives from education and healthcare on the list.