19.04.2021

A "MAINTENANCE SALARY" IS OFFERED IN THE SEWING COMPANIES

This week Bulgaria is involved in a large-scale campaign to improve working conditions and pay in clothing companies.

It is part of an initiative by the International Organization of Industrial Workers around the world to mark eight years since the tragedy that toppled the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh. Thousands of workers died and were injured then.

In Bulgaria, the sewing industry officially employs more than 80,000 people. They are severely affected by the covid crisis.

The campaign is entitled "Tailoring factories and tailoring workers need safe places to work," Tsvetelina Milchalieva, chairwoman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Light Industry at CITUB, told BNR.

"One of the direct dependencies in labor productivity is working conditions."

The covid crisis had a serious impact on the sewing industry. The main companies that place orders in Bulgaria are from Germany and France. "At the moment, they have stated that they may keep 30% of what they order as standard," the unionist said.

The federation insists on the introduction of the so-called "maintenance salary" in the sewing companies. "They have been on the minimum wage for years, and in many cases this is something that puts them below the poverty line."

Negotiations with employers for a branch contract for the garment industry with a focus on income are forthcoming.