MP Maria Todorova read out a declaration from the parliamentary floor on behalf of Progressive Bulgaria (PB) to mark World Day for Decent Work on 7 October. The group says Bulgaria must drop its cheap-labour model.
PB says the country has long been sold as an attractive economy mainly because of its low pay, and that this cannot be a strategy. The declaration says the goal is an economy built on investment, technology, high added value and high productivity. The party says change makes sense only if people feel the benefit.
The goals include changing how the minimum wage is set in the Labour Code, Todorova said. She said income policy cannot be separated from economic policy, and wages should rise steadily along with productivity, investment, skills and growth. That is the point of the change, she added.
"Bulgaria's ambition cannot be for more people to get the minimum wage. The ambition must be for fewer and fewer people to depend on it," the declaration says. PB says fewer people will rely on the minimum wage only if productivity is higher, education is better, people have more skills and there is more investment in sectors with high added value.
Todorova said an economy is measured not only by gross domestic product but also by quality of life. There is no real success when statistics show growth but working people do not feel it at home, she said.
PB makes three pledges. The first is to make incomes a policy for growth and for raising the value of Bulgarian labour. The second is on skills and training. Todorova said artificial intelligence, automation and digitalisation are already changing the labour market: some jobs will vanish, others will change, and new ones will appear. Technology must not split society into people with knowledge for the new economy and people left outside it, she said. She called knowledge the best protection against unemployment tomorrow.
The third pledge is to protect honest work and honest business. "There is no decent work when part of the pay comes in an envelope. There is no decent work when a person officially works 8 hours but in reality works 12," Todorova said. She said cutting corners on workplace safety is also incompatible with decent work.
The fight against the grey economy and undeclared work protects both the worker and the honest employer who pays real wages, social contributions and taxes and follows labour law, the MP said. Such an employer should not lose out in the market for being honest. Todorova said there is no lasting employment without a successful business, and no successful business without skilled, motivated and well-paid people.
She said work cannot be separated from the demographic crisis. People must also talk about Bulgaria outside the few big cities, because it is not normal for a postcode to decide a person's job prospects. That is why the policy on decent work is also regional, Todorova said.
In the declaration, PB says work is not just a cost in the economic ledger, because behind every worker stand a person and a family, and behind the millions of workers is the country's future. The party says the task is to make that future happen in Bulgaria, with meaningful work, secure income and dignified labour.