Bulgaria - Healthcare workers launch protest over low wages - August 31, 2025

Young doctors, nurses, and medical students have launched open-ended protests demanding significant pay rises, better working conditions, and improvements in training and education. The demonstrations are drawing renewed attention to long-standing underfunding in the health sector, while many hospitals are struggling to stay open due to a lack of staff and resources. The current wave of protests follows an unprecedented strike by staff at state psychiatric hospitals earlier this year, which led to salary increases of more than 30%. Protesting under the banner “Future in Bulgaria”, the medical personnel are supported by the Bulgarian Union of Medical Specialists.

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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.