Support for all attempts to ensure decent remuneration and working conditions for medical specialists was stated by the Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants and Paramedics (BULAF) with a letter to the media.

The EU has repeatedly called for a comprehensive reform of the health care system.

In this direction are our efforts to prepare a unified Strategy for the development of medical professions as a tool for achieving regulation and the desired change. We fully support the protests of the young medics and the Syndicate of the Bulgarian Medical Specialists by appealing to the regional structures of BSLAF, especially in the university cities, to take part in the implementation of the protests.

The protesting students and graduate students in medicine insist that the basic gross salary of young doctors and graduate doctors should be linked to the minimum wage and should be 3.4 times the MMS. Healthcare professionals demand an increase of 150% from the average work salary and decent working conditions.

On Tuesday, Podkrepa announced the demands of the protesters. The trade union stressed that one of the first mandatory steps in a positive direction is the conclusion of a new Sectoral Collective Agreement, which will create the necessary framework to ensure at least minimum standards, creating the basis for achieving a lasting improvement in working conditions and wages. The union said it was ready for strike action.

The Bulgarian Medical Association recognized the need for adequate remuneration, but noted that the current protest demands sound like a return to the model of centralized budget financing, in which remunerations are fixed and equal for all. But that would be a step backwards. Currently, the system is so built that wages vary in a wide range depending on the workload, specialty, hospital and the demand for the respective specialist. This flexibility is part of what has been achieved over the past 25 years and it should not be denied, but only upgraded.

The Industry Council for Tripartite Cooperation, chaired by the Minister of Health, has set up two working groups to propose concrete solutions by the end of June.

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