Preliminary estimates of the largest trade union in Bulgaria – KNAB, show that the minimum wage for the country from the beginning of 2025 will be 1080-1100 BGN.
According to the current legislation – Article 244 of the Labour Code, the Council of Ministers has to adopt a decree in September to determine it. The minimum wage is 50 per cent of the average wage for the previous 12 months as of 1 September of the year concerned. The data for three of these quarters were reported by the NSI, the last one is current, but the KNSB has estimated calculations which show that the wage in Karjakoonnnnnnnnnn .
This was said today in Kardzhali by the President of the KNUB Plamen Dimitrov. He was in the district within the national campaign of the confederation “Higher income with your trade union” and together with Vice President Daniela Alexieva met with the trade unions and the management of “Imeris Minerals Bulgaria” AD, with the management of “Serta Bulgaria” AD, and visited the secondary school “Petko Rachov Slaveikov”. Valentin Valchev, Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Miners and Ivanka Karakoleva, Regional Coordinator also participated. Working meetings were also held with the mayors of Kardzhali district and the governor of Kardzhali, where the topics of state delegated activities and salaries were discussed.
Dimitrov explained that at the meetings with employers today he had indicated the estimated calculations for the minimum wage for next year.
Bulgaria should do what is necessary to start inventing the so-called living wage on a regular basis. That is to say, the wage that is enough for a household to be able to meet its basic needs. You know that the KNSB has been doing these calculations for several years, but things are changing radically – in March this year the ILO adopted a tripartite agreed definition and methodology for countries to find the formula and their national statistics after tripartite agreement, based on this methodology, to publish on a quarterly and semi-annual basis the numbers, pointed out Dimitrov and explained that the request for the introduction of the methodology in our national legislation has been made for a month and a half. We insist that this should be one of the tasks of the caretaker cabinet or the next caretaker government, which we are likely to see, the President of the KNUB said.
In spite of the political instability and the uncertainty who will govern the country, the budget procedure for next year is going on and will be actually finalised in the next few weeks. The Ministry of Finance already has most of the sectoral proposals. That is why we are making our demands. They are based on the general horizontal policy of at least a 10% increase in the salaries of those paid by the state. To all, not selectively. They must reach appropriate levels, measured not against the average wage, but against a living wage. This is how wages are measured and negotiated throughout Western Europe. The 10 percent wage growth means about 1.8 billion more in wage costs as personnel costs in 2025, Dimitrov said. He explained that specifically in secondary education, the SBU’s demand is that wages should be at least 130 percent of the national average, which equates to at least 1.5 times the living wage.
Within the framework of the national campaign of the CPSU in the region, the vice-presidents Todor Kapitanov and Ognyan Atanasov met with the trade union members and the management of R-Dexa Trading, Kirkovo, with the management of Pnevmatica Kirkovo AD and with the trade union organization in Monek Bulgaria AD.
A meeting of the regional council was also held in Kardzhali.
