Federation of Transport Trade Unions expresses its full support for the proposal of CITUB to drop the restrictions on civil servants that place them in an unequal position compared to other workers in the country. Our trade union position is categorical – civil servants must have equal rights and opportunities, as well as fair treatment of their work, professionalism, and social contribution.

In this context, FTTU expresses serious disagreement with any change that would lead to transferring the social security burden to civil servants without them being appropriately compensated. Currently, the state, in its capacity as an employer, pays the social security contributions for civil servants. If this burden is transferred to the workers themselves without an adequate compensatory mechanism, this will practically lead to a reduction in their real income and a loss of purchasing power.

Such a measure cannot be presented as a reform when the end result for employees is a lower disposable income each month. This would be particularly unfair to those working in the state supervisory bodies, where remuneration already lags behind responsibilities, the workload is high, and public expectations are huge.

This is particularly clear with our colleagues from the Executive Agency "Automobile Administration", who daily perform activities of key importance for road safety, control over heavy goods vehicles transport and protection of the public interest.

The work in the EA "Automobile Administration" is far from limited to administrative functions. The agency's employees possess a high level of expert knowledge and specific professional training. They know in detail national and European transport legislation, the regulatory framework in the field of road transport, technical requirements for vehicles, licensing regimes and control of transport activity.

The inspectors and control bodies of the agency perform daily checks on the road, control trucks and buses, monitor compliance with the work and rest regimes of drivers, check the technical roadworthiness of vehicles and counteract illegal transport. Their work is directly related to preventing serious road accidents and protecting human life.

These employees bear serious personal responsibility when making decisions that affect the safety of passengers, carriers and all road users. The risk to which they are exposed during roadside checks should not be underestimated either – often in heavy traffic conditions, under adverse weather conditions, in direct contact with violators and in situations requiring quick reaction and a high degree of professionalism.

Behind every act, check or control activity stand years of training, accumulated practical experience and a constant need to update knowledge according to the dynamically changing European and national regulatory framework. These are specialists whose competence can hardly be replaced and whose absence would have a direct impact on the quality of state control in the transport sector.

Therefore, FTTU considers that any policy aimed at limiting the rights of civil servants or creating additional barriers to their professional and social development is unfair and does not take into account the real contribution of these workers to society. On the contrary – it is necessary to take measures to increase the attractiveness of the civil service, to retain qualified personnel and to ensure a decent pay corresponding to the responsibilities and risks they take daily.

Particularly worrying is the fact that despite the huge responsibility borne by the employees of EA "Automobile Administration", their remuneration remains extremely insufficient. At present, the gross remuneration of an inspector is about 859 euros, and there are employees with over 10 years of professional experience and accumulated expert knowledge who receive barely about 840 euros gross salary. This is an unacceptably low remuneration for specialists on whose decisions road safety, compliance with the law in the transport sector and the prevention of serious road accidents depend.

At the same time, the system suffers from a serious shortage of inspectors, which is increasingly affecting the effectiveness of road control. The lack of a sufficient number of employees on the ground leads to a reduction in control activities and creates conditions for violations, self-will and non-compliance with regulatory requirements by unscrupulous carriers. According to our data, at least 80 employees are needed for the normal functioning of control activities. This directly reflects on road safety, the working conditions of professional drivers and the competitive environment in the transport sector. The state cannot expect a high level of control and prevention when it systematically fails to provide the necessary personnel resources and decent remuneration for the specialists performing these functions.

In this context, FTTU expresses serious concern and disagreement with the publicly launched ideas for structural changes, including a potential merger of the Executive Agency "Automobile Administration" with the Ministry of Interior. Such intentions cannot be realized hastily and without an in-depth professional, financial and functional analysis of the consequences for the control activities, the transport sector and the workers in the system.

EA "Automobile Administration" is a specialized control administration with clearly defined functions, expert capacity and specific competences built up over decades. The employees of the agency possess unique expertise in the field of road transport, European transport legislation, control over professional carriers, drivers' driving and rest times, licensing regimes and international transport. These activities cannot mechanically be transferred or absorbed by another structure without the risk of losing expert potential, demotivating employees and deteriorating control.

FTTU strongly believes that before discussing such reforms, the state should first solve the real problems in the system – the chronic shortage of personnel, low salaries, high workload and the lack of sufficient resources for effective control. It is unacceptable for the fate of hundreds of employees and the efficiency of an administration key to the transport sector to be questioned without clear motives, proven benefits and broad public and expert discussion.

As a representative trade union organization, we state categorically that we are against undertaking such structural changes without prior analysis, impact assessment and real dialogue with the employees and their trade union representatives. Reforms must lead to better control and higher safety, not to administrative experiments that could weaken state capacity in one of the most sensitive sectors for society and the economy.

Such a policy leads to demotivation, outflow of staff and difficulties in attracting new specialists to the system. If urgent measures are not taken to increase salaries and provide the administration with enough qualified inspectors, the risk to the public interest, road safety and the quality of state control will continue to grow. Federation of Transport Trade Unions declares its unconditional support to the union members in EA "Automobile Administration" and their families. We will continue consistently to defend their labor, social and trade union rights, because behind every job stands a person, and behind every employee – a family that relies on their work, professionalism and security.

Civil servants are not a privileged group. They are people who daily perform public functions with a high degree of responsibility. Among them are the employees of EA "Automobile Administration" – professionals who guarantee order, legality and safety in one of the most important sectors for the economy and society – transport. Therefore, they deserve respect, fair working conditions and equal rights with all other workers in Bulgaria.

FTTU will send this position to the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the competent state institutions, demanding that the voice of the workers in EA "Automobile Administration" be heard in the discussion of any future change affecting their rights, income and professional future.

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