Metro Under Strain: Will Sofia Be Left Without Public Transport Over the Weekend?

For the third consecutive day, Sofia was left without bus, tram, and trolleybus services. The underground system remains functional, operating with increased frequency and additional trains. This situation follows the failure of negotiations yesterday between the trade unions representing public transport workers and the local authorities regarding a pay rise for the protesting employees.

Sofia Public Transport Blockade: Workers Demand Higher Wages, Declared Civil Disobedience

Transport workers remain firm in their demands, with the protest and blockade of Sofia entering its third day. Drivers from the Zemlyane depot have initiated a petition calling for an official, indefinite strike. They have declared that there will be no ground transport services over the weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday.

The protest of the employees of the ground public transport in the capital began on Wednesday under the slogan "“Dignified Work – Dignified Pay! No economy without transport".

The trade unions said they are making efforts to initiate a new round of talks today with Sofia Municipality in hopes of reaching a resolution.

Following yesterday's over three-hour meeting, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev noted that a new meeting has been proposed for Monday, May 19, at 8:00 a.m.. He emphasised that the meeting would only take place if both ground and underground transport are operational, stating:

"We cannot allow the citizens of Sofia to become hostages to our negotiations."
Terziev added that the municipality is proposing a net increase of 100 BGN to base salaries in the four public transport companies, along with a 100% increase in the performance bonus for employees in the electric and motor transport sectors, which currently stands at around 300 BGN.

Meanwhile, the unions are demanding the immediate allocation of additional financial resources from the state budget totaling 40.7 million BGN. Of that amount, they are requesting:29 million BGN for Sofia’s public transport system; 6.5 million BGN for Varna’s public transport; 0.7 million BGN for Ruse and
4.5 million BGN for the Executive Agency “Automobile Administration”, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria informed.

Photos by Dessislava Kulelieva, BNT