"My Salary Is Humiliating": Protesting Public Transport Workers in Ruse Temporarily Block City Centre Intersection, Vow to Close Danube Bridge As Well

Following protests in Varna, employees in the public transport sector moved their demonstration to Ruse today, March 10. They are demanding a minimum 5% salary increase retroactive to 1 January 2026. For around 30 minutes, drivers blocked one of the busiest intersections in the city centre.

The protest for higher wages in public transport in Ruse began with chaos because very few employees showed up at the agreed place and time. The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria suspected sabotage, and instead of blocking the intersection in the western industrial zone, the protest organizers blocked one of the busiest intersections in the central part of the city. They threatened to close the Danube Bridge as well. The funds needed by the municipality of Ruse to increase wages in the sector amount to over half a million euros. The company employs about 110 drivers, of whom over 30 percent are pensioners.

Ivan Enchev, driver: "Well, I feel uncomfortable saying that I am ashamed of the salary I receive—€806—for these working conditions. We work more than nine hours a day, but the salary is simply humiliating."

Todor Kapitanov, vice president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria: That's why we're here, to show that the people of Ruse and public transport workers can't be pushed to the sidelines in this country. This is a warning action; our colleagues are ready to get off the vehicles, but not to leave the people of Ruse without transport, but simply to send a signal to the authorities to pay attention to their problems.

The protest in Ruse was called off after the organisers were invited to a meeting at the municipality.

The mayor of Ruse, Pencho Milkov, supported today's protest by public transport employees, who are insisting that the extended state budget provide funds for a five percent increase in their salaries. Milkov announced this at a briefing after a meeting with representatives of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, including the vice president of the union, Todor Kapitanov.