Week of decent work for young people in Bulgaria
Bulgaria

CITUB` Youth Activity on the occasion of the World Day for Decent Work “Week of decent work for young people in Bulgaria”

On the occasion of the World Day for Decent Work, the Confederation of independent trade unions in Bulgaria, jointly with the Youth Forum 21st century and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Office Bulgaria) is organizing a series of youth activities in the period 7-14 October 2011. These youth activities are also part of the CITUB` national campaign, launched on 9th May (The Day of Europe) for defense of labour, social and trade union rights in Bulgaria and under the slogan “A right for one is a right for all”. The week of decent work for young people in Bulgaria will include a several activities, as following:
1. Marking the WDDW on 7th October in Sofia:
• 9:00 h – 21:00 h - Youth informational campaign with distribution of leaflets and mini-books about the labour, social and trade union rights. There will be an Informational and Consultative Center (tent camp) in front of the National Theater “Ivan Vazov” in Sofia, where the citizens can receive free of charge labour consultation about their problems at the working places and some advertising materials and leaflets on “Your rights at work”, “Your social rights” and “Your trade union rights”. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of young people about their rights at the working place and also about the role of the trade unions as a defender of the workers` rights. At the tent there will be also a presentation of some educational videos about the violation of workers` rights and what benefits can be had from joining trade union organizations.
• 18:00 h – 21:00 h - Youth Flashmob about the labour, social and trade union rights, open space theater with young volunteers, followed by youth party with a cocktail of surprises including different singing and dancing performances of young people. During the youth event there will be a promotion of the young trade union rock and roll song, which is dedicated to the WDDW and its main aim is to remind to the young people, through the text of the song and on the youth` language, that they deserve a decent work and decent life and that they should care about their rights at the working place if what to have a better tomorrow.

2. 8th October (9:00 h – 16:00 h) in Sofia - National youth conference on the issue of organizing young people “How to make trade unions more attractive for young people?”
• 50 participants – young trade union activists from different sectors/branches, regional structures and enterprise trade union organizations from all over Bulgaria;
• Working method – presentations, breamstorming, working groups, exchange of good practices on organizing young people at different levels (national, regional, sectoral/branch and enterprise level)
• During the conference, participants will have an opportunity to learn more about ITUC` youth organizing campaign, to exchange good practices on organizing young people at different levels (national, regional, sectoral/branch and enterprise level), but also to discuss in small working groups the organizing strategy of CITUB as a whole and to make a proposals how to make it more youth friendly and to make trade unions more attractive for young people. Planning future trade union youth activities will be also one of the aims of the conference.

3. 12th or 14th October – Regional Youth information campaign and flashmob about the labour, social and trade union rights in Veliko Tarnovo.

Information about the CITUB national campaign to protect workers’ rights: In early May 2011, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB) launched a national campaign to protect workers’ rights. The campaign aims to change legislation to guarantee labour and trade union rights and will include a petition, education and consultation with workers and young people, and meetings with employers and workers across the country. CITUB also intends to raise awareness of the work done by trade unions, and the right to join unions.

Background The Coordinating Council of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB) decided at its meeting on 12 April 2011 to launch a campaign to protect workers’ rights in the framework of its project ‘Security through the law, flexibility through collective bargaining’.

The campaign started on Europe Day, 9 May 2011, in the presence of Tsetska Tsatcheva, Chair of the National Assembly, Minister of Labour and Social Policy Totio Mladenov, Justice Minister Margarita Popova and the presidents of the CITUB federations. Trade unions presented to the Chair of the Parliament proposals for urgent legislative changes to ensure more stable guarantees of workers’ rights. The campaign received the support of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

Aims of the campaign The campaign had three aims:
• to provoke legislative changes to guarantee labour and trade union rights;
• to inform workers and employees, and particularly young people, of their rights;
• to encourage workers to become trade union members, and to inform society about the role and initiatives of trade unions for protecting workers’ rights. Legal initiatives CITUB is proposing changes in legislation to protect four key rights for workers, namely:
• the right of association – to include an additional article in the Penal Code that would give a legal safeguard to the right to associate in trade unions;
• the right of collective bargaining – to devise new legislation that would enforce the right to collective bargaining for all workers, including civil servants;
• the right to be paid – to ensure the right to the regular payment of wages through new amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, through which every employee is entitled to receive due wages or benefits without having to take legal proceedings against employers who withhold pay;
• the right to strike – to protect and guarantee the right to strike through a new strike law. The Law for Settlement of Collective Disputes, in force from 1990, provides rules for the settlement of collective labour disputes that are inconsistent with the Constitution (1991), which gives workers the right to strike, including civil servants, to protect their economic and social interests. Planned events

CITUB’s campaign includes the following events:
• a petition entitled ‘A right for one is a right for all’ signed by citizens, workers and young people, to protect their rights;
• specially built tent camps where CITUB will organise educational videos about the violation of workers’ rights and what benefits can be had from joining trade union organisations;
• at the tent camps, trade union lawyers will also offer consultations to workers. Visitors will receive advertising materials and leaflets on ‘Your rights at work’, ‘Your social rights’ and ‘Your trade union rights’;
• meetings with all groups from parliament – the first was with the ruling party, Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (CEDP) – to seek support for legislative changes;
• targeting students between 16 and 18 years old, since many young people entering the labour market have little information about employment issues. From September, teachers will lead discussions on labour, social and trade union rights;
• visits and meetings with regional and municipal authorities, employers, trade unionists and workers in enterprises;
• providing legal advice to citizens. CITUB has opened a hotline to receive calls regarding claims about rights that have been violated.