THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC) VISITED BIA TODAY
"Governments come and go but trade unions and employers' organizations stay so coming to an agreement between them is of crucial importance both to national and world economy," said Ms Sharon Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), who visited BIA today, 11 March 2011.
The meeting was attended by the CITUB President (Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria), Plamen Dimitrov, and the President of Confederation of Labour "Podkrepa", Konstantin Trenchev, while hosts of the event were the Vice Presidents of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, Georgi Shivarov and Dimiter Brankov.
Ms Burrow highlighted that the purpose of her visit to Bulgaria in general, and to BIA in particular, was to present the general outline the world trade unions have for the social partners' responsibility in developing and implementing national policies related to the Global Jobs Pact adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO). She urged the Bulgarian social partners to be active and come up proposals in the forthcoming ILO May-June session, which shall focus primarily on the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in stabilizing the world economy and employment.
During the meeting Mr. Brankov, Vice President of BIA, emphasized the good cooperation between trade unions and employers' organizations in the last two decades, including in relation to measures taken for achieving sustainable growth, labour market policies, workforce qualification etc. Concerning Ms Burrow's viewpoint that economic growth should be obtained through income growth, Mr. Brankov pointed out that Bulgaria faces some fiscal restrictions such as the currently operating currency board. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of meeting the requirements of low carbon economy, considered a priority both to employers and employees, which shall ultimately affect the number of job places at a national and global scale.
At the end of the meeting Mr. Shivarov, Vice President of BIA, awarded Ms Burrow a Tocken of Honour on the occasion of BIA's 30th Anniversary and as a mark of respect for ITUC and its contribution to the development of social dialogue and modern industrial relations.
Ms Burrow is further to meet the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Totyu Mladenov, and the President of the National Assembly, Mrs. Tsetska Tsacheva. Moreover, Ms Burrow shall give a press conference at 13h00 today at the headquarters of Confederation of Labour "Podkrepa".
