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Bulgarian armoury workers strike for higher pay

SOFIA - Workers at one of Bulgaria’s biggest state-owned armoury companies VMZ staged a brief strike Monday to demand a pay rise and more information about the company’s future, national radio reported.

More than 500 workers at the VMZ unit in the village of Iganovo stopped work for an hour Monday morning, the radio said, citing Podkrepa union leader Georgy Katzarov.

Katzarov threatened renewed strikes at a later date if the workers’ demands were not met. Workers at other units in the central town of Sopot began a one-hour protest at noon.

Workers have said they want more pay and to be kept informed of their production schedule over the next six months, amid fears they might be laid off.

VMZ Sopot, which employs more than 3,800 workers, is one of largest state-owned armoury companies still awaiting privatisation.

Founded during communism, it produces anti-tank and aviation missiles, artillery ammunition and fuses.

In October, VMZ director Ivan Ivanov tabled his resignation, claiming that certain groups were interested in seeing the plant bankrupt and were hindering successful privatisation.

Bulgaria was a major arms and ammunition producer during communism, employing a total 115,000 people in its plants.

But the industry suffered a major blow in then 1990s when it lost its Warsaw Pact markets, forcing it to significantly cut production and lay off most its workforce.