Interior Ministry Officers Go on Stand-By for Possible Strike

Sofia, February 8 (BTA) - Trade unionists told a BTA-hosted news
conference on Sunday that Interior Ministry officers are on
stand-by for a possible strike over a bill to amend and
supplement the Interior Ministry Act which is awaiting a second
reading in Parliament. They said that the bill fails to address
any of the important problems in the Interior Ministry system.

Valentin Popov, who chairs the Federation of Trade Unions of
Interior Ministry Officers (FTUIMO), pointed to a lack of real
social dialogue in the system and insufficient discussion on the
planned amendments. He said the intended strikers will wait
while the unions use their contacts to try and make changes to
the bill. If they fail to do that, they will strike.

Popov's deputy Milovan Davidov expressed concern over the lack
of transparency and discussion about the planned amendments to
the Interior Ministry Act. Between its first and second reading,
the bill was expanded to include "the entire administrative
reform planned in the Interior Ministry," Davidov said. He
warned of a risk that two equivalent posts may be held by
persons employed under two different laws, one under the
Interior Ministry Act and the other under the Civil Servants
Act.

Another FTUIMO Deputy Chairman, Iliya Kouzmanov, said that the
bill which reached the full Parliament for its first reading was
very different from the one which came out of the competent
parliamentary committee. This is not normal and introduces a
whole new philosophy to the bill, Kouzmanov said.

He objected to the scrapping of two specific proposals. One of
the proposals was that Interior Ministry officers who have
donated blood should be given leave of office. The other one was
that an Interior Ministry officer who has worked on holidays
should be given a day's leave of office for every under-18 child
in the officer's family.

The trade unionists called for a broad public discussion on the
reform in the Interior Ministry system. The discussion should
involve political parties, the media, NGOs and trade unions,
they said.