Bulgarian railway workers end strike after 25 days
December 20, 2011
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SOFIA, Bulgaria—Railway workers in Bulgaria are calling off their 25-day strike against planned layoffs after signing a collective bargaining agreement with the management.
By signing the agreement on Tuesday rail workers ended their protests against the layoff of 2,000 of the railways' 13,000 workers, and the cancellation of 138 train services.
The management said the cuts were necessary to secure a euro230 million ($298 million) loan from the World Bank.
The head of the heavily indebted state company, Vladimir Vladimirov, said the strike so far has cost them euro1.28 million ($1.66 million)
He said some 1,060 railway workers have agreed to leave and take a severance package offered by the company.
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