Nationwide Strike Grips Greece: 24 Hours of Transport Paralysis
A nationwide strike in Greece has brought the country's transport networks to a standstill, affecting railways, ferries, buses, taxis, and more
The governing body of Bulgaria's biggest State-owned coal-mining company, the Maritsa Iztok Mines, has withdrawn Friday morning its claim with the Court to declare the workers' strike illegal.
The magistrates have dismissed the case.
Talks between the management and the syndicates resume Friday, while the strike is in its sixth day. The negotiations are being launched again on the order of Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov.
On Thursday, the mines management, after talks with the syndicates, announced that all workers will receive additional money – 10.5% of their gross monthly wage for the third quarter to be paid by January 25th. The labor unions, however, declared that this promise has nothing to do with the BGN 1 000 per miner they are demanding on the grounds the mines have produced way more coal more than what was planned.
Meanwhile, the strike committee informs that 98% of all miners and other employees from the night shift at the three open-pit mines at Maritsa Iztok have been on strike (597 people), while during the day Friday 92% of the staff is on strike (2 237 people).
On Thursday, the President of the Confederation of Labor Podkrepa (Support) – one of the two major syndicates in Bulgaria – Dr. Konstantin Trenchev, sent a letter to Social Policy and Labor Minister, Totyu Mladenov, alerting him that the management of the mines is planning to fire syndicate members and participants in the strike.
The strike at the Maritsa Iztok Mines started on Sunday at 8 p.m.
The 7100 employees of Maritsa Iztok Mines AD insist that they be paid bonuses of BGN 1000 for the record output achieved in 2011 in line with an agreement signed on July 12, 2011.
The syndicates at Maritsa Iztok Mines AD ask that the employer comply with the document regulating the relative share of the wage costs in relation to the company's revenues.
They claim that CEO Evgeni Stoykov withdrew his signature from the agreement despite the anticipated BGN 500 M in revenues of the company, thereby leaving the miners without year-end bonuses.
The management of Maritsa Iztok Mines AD, however, has said that it has fulfilled all of its commitments under the agreement and declared the strike illegal.
The workers are also against shutting down power capacities in the country, which will lead to the closure of mines.
They further oppose the increase in the retirement age which they see as "genocide" towards Bulgarian workers.
On Wednesday, the other major labor union – the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB) refuted the claims of Angel Semerdzhiev, Chair of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (DKEVR), that power prices would rise by at least 10% from July 01, 2012 unless the miners went back to work in a month.
The syndicates insisted that such allegations were an expression of extreme and harmful populism and constituted an attempt to set Bulgarian people against the "justified demands of the protesting workers".
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
The Greek national electricity company, PPC, has announced plans to acquire 500 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity in Bulgaria
Oil prices have surged due to renewed concerns about the Middle East conflict. Brent crude futures increased by 0.32% to 90.80 USD per barrel, while American WTI crude rose by 0.3% to 86.50 USD per barrel
Bulgaria's state-owned energy company, "Bulgargaz," has suffered a significant setback, losing 27% of its market share as a result of a contract with the Turkish company "Botas"
A remarkable shift in Bulgaria's energy landscape has been unveiled in the latest report from the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, submitted to the Bulgarian parliament
Natural gas prices in Europe experienced a significant spike, surpassing 2% to reach 29 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) on Monday
Amidst Ukraine's urgent need for additional power sources following the closure of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022