Today, another working meeting was held between the management of "Metropolitan" EAD and the representatives of the Federation of Transport Trade Unions – the chairman of FTTU, Eng. Aleksandar Shopov, and the chairman of the trade union organization, Svetoslav Iliev.

During the meeting, the parties reviewed in detail the texts of the draft of the new annexes to the Collective Labour Agreement.

With regard to Annex No. 4, despite initial attempts to return to the flawed practice of linking the provision of safety glasses solely to outdated regulatory texts and formal risk assessments, FTTU strongly objected. Following the discussions, the employer accepted that this approach should not be applied and agreed to seek a fairer solution tailored to the actual working conditions.

However, the most serious disagreements remained on Annex No. 3, which is related to the bonus system and the categorization of positions.

FTTU presented concrete proposals for the development and expansion of the existing categorization, based on the actual working conditions, workload, and specificity of the individual positions. Unfortunately, some of the employer's proposals are not based on clear, objective, and measurable indicators, and in individual cases, they would lead to the loss of already acquired rights for workers who currently fall into the respective categories.

This is absolutely unacceptable for FTTU. We will not allow workers and employees who are already included in certain categories to be deprived of them by changing the criteria. For us, the development of the bonus system means building upon, not taking away, already negotiated rights. The categorization should cover all workers when this is justified by the nature and conditions of work, rather than being used as a tool to limit social benefits.

The management of "Metropolitan" EAD completed an commitment to perform an additional analysis of the proposals made and the annexes to the CLA, after which it will present new parameters for discussion. FTTU expects this analysis to be based entirely on objective criteria and to preserve the philosophy of the agreements set out in the previous collective labour agreements.

The next meeting between the parties is scheduled for July 27, when negotiations will continue.

FTTU will not support decisions that lead to the limitation or revocation of already negotiated rights. Our goal remains the same – a fairer Collective Labour Agreement that improves, rather than worsens, the situation of workers at "Metropolitan" EAD.