A parliamentary committee on labour, demography and social policy has backed changes to the Labour Code meant to encourage collective bargaining. It approved them at first reading, with 12 MPs voting for and 6 against. No one abstained.
The government tabled the bill. Social minister Natalia Efremova said it brings in part of the EU directive on adequate minimum wages.
Efremova said the number of collective labour agreements in force fell between 2011 and 2024, and the changes respond to that drop. She said the main cause is a changed labour market: it is highly fragmented, with more and more micro and small firms, where such agreements are rarely signed.
The minister also said studies and analyses show that bargaining at sector and industry level has the best effect on coverage. So the law should set out the general principles and what the state and the social partners can do to encourage it, she said.
GERB-SDS, Vazrazhdane, DPS and We Continue the Change (PP) said they will not back the bill. Iliyana Zhekova of GERB-SDS said her group had expected a bill with clear ways to fix the low coverage of collective bargaining. She said the problem is correctly identified, but it is an open question whether the steps are enough.
Georgi Georgiev of Vazrazhdane said collective bargaining is harder in micro and small firms, and the bill does not solve that. Ayten Sabri of DPS said clear goals and tools are needed to improve collective bargaining, and her party will not back the bill as it stands.
"What we see is literally work against the trade unions, for the benefit of employers," said Venko Sabrutev of PP.
The KNSB trade union also opposes the bill. "The texts are not consensual, they are declarative, and they serve one single aim – to avoid applying the directive in full," said the union's vice president Todor Kapitanov.
Kapitanov said there is no starting point from which to build policies to encourage bargaining, and asked what is being encouraged. He said there was also no commitment to change the public procurement law so that employers must follow collective labour agreements if they want to use public money.
Kapitanov warned that if the bill goes to a vote in the chamber, KNSB will not accept it and will send a complaint to the European Commission.
Maria Mincheva, deputy chair of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, called the bill a good basis that takes real steps on collective bargaining. She said bargaining is a voluntary process between employers and unions, and both sides must work together for a better result for firms and workers.