The Progressive Bulgaria parliamentary group wants Bulgaria to drop its cheap labour model. MP Maria Todorova read a declaration from the parliamentary rostrum to mark World Day for Decent Work on 7 October.

The party says cheap labour has been presented as an economic advantage for too long and cannot be a national strategy. It wants an economy driven by investment, technology, high added value and high productivity. Change makes sense only if people feel the result, it says. "Human labour is not just a cost in an economic account," the declaration says.

The party made three pledges. The first is that income policy should serve economic growth and raise the value of Bulgarian labour. The second concerns people's qualifications and skills. The third is to protect honest work and honest business.

Todorova said incomes must grow steadily, in step with productivity, investment, skills and economic growth, because income policy cannot be separated from economic policy. She included in this a change to how the minimum wage is set under the Labour Code. The declaration says the party does not aim to increase the number of people on the minimum wage. It wants to reduce reliance on it, through higher productivity, better education, more skills and more investment in sectors with high added value.

Todorova described the economy as quality of life. She said no one can talk of success when statistics rise but workers do not feel it at home. "There is no decent work when part of the pay comes in an envelope," she said. In her view, work is not decent either when people actually work 12 hours instead of the official 8, or when safety at work is treated as a cost to cut.

Todorova said the fight against the grey economy and undeclared work protects both the worker and the honest employer, who pays real wages, social security contributions and taxes and obeys labour law. An honest employer should not be punished by the market for playing by the rules. Without successful business there are no lasting jobs, she added, and without skilled, motivated and fairly paid people there is no successful business.

Todorova also spoke about technology. She said artificial intelligence, automation and digitalisation are changing the job market: some jobs will vanish, others will change and new ones will appear. She believes technological progress must not create a new social divide between people with knowledge for the new economy and those left outside it. The best protection against unemployment tomorrow is knowledge today, she said.

Decent work is also a matter of regional policy, which Todorova said must reach beyond the few big cities. She said work cannot be discussed apart from the demographic crisis, and it is not normal for a postcode to decide a person's career prospects.

The declaration ends by saying that behind labour stand a person, a family and Bulgaria's future, and that the party wants work with purpose, income with security and labour with dignity.