TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYERS PROPOSE UPDATING OF THE NATIONAL TRILATERAL AGREEMENT

The five employers’ organizations and the two trade unions in Bulgaria have sent a letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance regarding the update of the national trilateral agreement.

On June 17, 2020, a 2-year National Tripartite Agreement was concluded between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the social partners - the National Representative Organizations of Employers and Employees.

We all, guided by our responsibility as a guarantor of the constitutional right of association and will to develop national social dialogue and collective bargaining, as well as the need to improve the economic environment and living standards of the population, aware of current challenges facing Bulgaria as part of the EU , to build a modern competitive economy and overcome social and regional imbalances;

realizing the need to use the mechanisms of the European Semester and its close connection with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, incl. and through the active involvement of the social partners;

have made mutual commitments to take action in several areas:

1. Business environment and economy;
2. Energy;
3. European Green Deal;
4. Demography, education, labor market and labor migration;
5. Social protection policy.

By implementing specific measures and policies in these areas, we aimed to achieve the following medium-term goals by 2022:

• Labor productivity in the PCA = 60% of the EU;
• GDP per capita in the PCA = 60% of the EU;
• Compensation for 1 employee in the PCA = 60% of the EU;
• Social protection expenditure = 20% of GDP.

Two years later and a few months before the expiry of the National Tripartite Agreement, we offer you a meeting to discuss its implementation, to review and update it, to give a new perspective to our mutual commitments, with concrete action plans according to the current situation and the new challenges we face.