A parliamentary committee has backed, at first reading, changes to the Labour Code meant to boost collective bargaining. The government sent the bill to parliament. The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB) opposes it, as do the parties GERB-SDS, Vazrazhdane, DPS and Continue the Change. The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BSK) backs the bill.

The labour, demographic and social policy committee voted 12 to 6 for the bill, with no abstentions.

Social minister Natalia Efremova said the changes bring in part of the directive on adequate minimum wages. She linked them to the fall in the number of collective labour agreements in force between 2011 and 2024.

The minister said the main reason for the drop is a change in the labour market: firms are more fragmented, and there are more micro and small businesses, where such agreements are rarely signed. Efremova said studies and analyses show that to cover more workers, talks should take place at the level of a whole sector or industry. So the law should set out general principles and steps the state and the social partners could take, she said.

Iliyana Zhekova said GERB-SDS will not back the bill. The party had expected clear enough tools to deal with the low reach of collective bargaining. Zhekova said the problem was correctly identified, but questioned whether the proposed steps are enough.

Georgi Georgiev of Vazrazhdane said bargaining is harder in micro and small firms and the bill will not fix that. Ayten Sabri said DPS will not support the text as it stands, because clear goals and tools are needed to improve bargaining.

Continue the Change also opposes the bill. "What we see is literally work against the trade unions in favour of employers," said MP Venko Sabrutev.

KNSB vice president Todor Kapitanov said the text is declarative, not based on consensus, and aims to avoid applying the directive in full. "What kind of encouragement of collective bargaining are we offering, when we have no starting base from which to build policies?" he asked.

Kapitanov also said there is no commitment to change the Public Procurement Act. KNSB wants employers to be required to follow collective agreements if they are to use public money.

Maria Mincheva, deputy chair of BSK, called the bill a good basis that takes real steps on collective bargaining. She said bargaining is a voluntary process between employers and unions, and needs both sides to work together so that firms and workers gain.

The bill now goes to a vote in the full chamber. KNSB said it will not accept the bill if it passes there, and will send a complaint to the European Commission.