The leader of the Bulgarian Trade Union "Podkrepa" ("Support") Dr. Konstantin Trenchev said Friday at a special press conference that the trend in the country's development was disastrous.

According to the statement of the Podkrepa Labor Confederation read by Trenchev, the anti-social policy that the government was conducting had led to low incomes, high inflation, and the emergence of the "employed poor".

The syndicate pointed out that Bulgaria's inflation was 15% and expected to reach 20% by the end of 2008, whereas in the most EU states it was about 3%. The food prices in Bulgaria had gone up 30% in the last year, according to Podkrepa.

Trenchev underscored what he term a "catastrophic" socio-economic situation in the country by adding that Bulgaria ranked last in the EU in terms of income, and that people's income was expected to go down 40%, which would bring the income level under the poverty line.

"There are no more unemployed persons in Bulgaria, only employed poor", Trenchev said.

Podkrepa also criticized harshly the proposed changes in the Labor Code, because they would allow the lack of control over overtime labor, which meant uncontrolled exploitation of laborers.

The trade unionists called up the civil society sector in Bulgaria to take action in order to rectify the worsening situation.

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