Bulgarian Trains Come to Halt over Effective Strike

Employees of the Bulgarian railroads are staging a nationwide strike over looming mass layoffs. File phot

Trains in Bulgaria are coming to a halt Thursday for one hour between 10 am and 11 am, the railroad workers trade unions at the Confederation of the Bulgarian Syndicates, KNSB, and "Podkrepa" (Support) announce.

The trains will stop running over an effective warning strike at the State-owned Bulgarian Railroad Company, BDZ and the Railroad Infrastructure Company.

The passenger trains will stay at railroad stations where there is water and electricity.

The strike comes on the heels of unsuccessful Wednesday negotiations between the labor unions and the railroads management, which failed to reach an agreement. BDZ proposed new ways to reduce the planned layoffs and new deadlines for paying salaries and benefits, but they were rejected.

The trade unions and the workers are alarmed by the contract for the restructuring of BDZ signed with the World Bank, which provides for the layoff of thousands of employees (30%) and the freezing of salaries until 2013. The labor unions say the loan will not be used for modernizing the railroads, but to cover outstanding debts.

If an agreement is not reached Thursday, the railroad workers will and begin an effective strike on March 11 between 8 am and 4 pm every day to last until their demands are met.

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