The European Trade Union Institute published a comparative report on labour in the EU in 2018, the focus being on salaries over the past 10 years.

As seen in the report, Bulgaria holds the record in real average wage growth for the 2009-2018 period – almost 90 percent. Second comes Romania – 34, and third Poland – at 30 percent. In some countries the growth rate is zero, in others there is a tendency towards a drop in wages – like Greece or Spain, for example. That salaries in this country have been going up steadily is the good news, which the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) reported at a conference they organized in Sofia. The conference, called “The European pillar of social rights – a pillar of Europe’s future” took place just one month before the all-European trade union forum.

Yet the good news that incomes are steady is no cause to jump for joy. Because the question is – how much money are Bulgarians ultimately left with in their own pockets? In view of the growing prices, the high taxes and the degraded work environment, Bulgarians are still the poorest out of all working people in Europe.

“Economic growth without growth of wages puts trust in the EU as a union of integration in serious jeopardy,” says Lyuben Tomev, director of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Studies at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria. And adds:

“The increase in the minimum salary and of productivity of labour is what stands out most. These figures show that in 15 countries there is a negative difference. There, productivity of labour outpaces the growth rate of the average salary – Finland, Lithuania, Spain and Croatia are among these countries. But in another 11 countries real wages outpace labour productivity growth. In this, Bulgaria is among the leading countries with a difference of close to 60 percent. The character of employment in this country has been deteriorating in recent years, with the number of discouraged people on the labour market growing, and an increasing number of jobs without trade union protection. The European pillar of social rights carries a commitment for an adequate minimum salary so there will be no “working poor”.

“There is no other country in the EU with income inequalities such as ours, or such levels of poverty,” says CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov.

“The growth of the economy, jobs, salaries is not being distributed fairly among workers in Bulgaria. Even though we are seeing a clear and sustainable growth in these past 10 years, we are also seeing deepening poverty and a deepening inequality among working Bulgarians. We have the lowest minimum salary for the entire EU, the average income levels remain the lowest, and there is a new tendency – a deepening of the rift between the wealthiest and the poorest people in Bulgaria. In practice, two-thirds of Bulgarian workers are paid less than the average working monthly salary of 1,180 Leva (December 2018) which the trade unions have been commenting. In 2017 close to 39 percent of Bulgarians were at risk of poverty, the average for the EU being a little over 22 percent.”

The CITUB has requested from the government an incomes growth of 11-15 percent over the next four years for all working Bulgarians. This means that as of 1 January next year the minimum monthly salary will have to be 650 Leva. The confederation is proposing a starting monthly salary of 1,000 Leva for all people with university degrees in Bulgaria as of 2020. Plamen Dimitrov says this is a feasible figure, because an increase of 15 percent will mean adding no more than 100-200 Leva to current monthly salaries. If this is done, then within 4 years the average monthly salary in the country could come close to 1,000 euro. And many Bulgarians working in other countries could consider coming home, the CITUB says.

English version: Milena Daynova