Политика

February 1999. as a result of a heart attack, Miran Drikov, a worker at the Novotex-R Rakitovo textile plant, died. For his wife, Nedjie Drikova, in addition to the severe oria, began the fruitless efforts to receive the unpaid wages of the late October 1998. until February 1999. The amount is 526 leva and 50 stotinki. Mrs. Drikova needs the earned money, she also needs the little Eileen Drikova, who has a congenital defect of the esophagus.

Diagnosis of the child means blockage of the esophagus and requires during a certain period surgical treatment at the Clinic of Pediatric Surgery in Plovdiv. Periodic vesiculation (artificial expansion of the esophagus with a probe) has been accompanying Eileen's childhood for nearly 4 years now. Because of the daughter's illness, Mrs. Drikova is forced to quit her job and has to deal with the miserable help given by the state - about 30 leva a month. As a response to a request for assistance from Mrs. Drikova in May 2000. from the Ministry of Economy insist to the Executive Director of "Novotex-R" as soon as possible to submit to the Directorate "Social cooperation and stimulation of employment" opinion on the possibility to pay due to the heirs of Miran Drikov. The above remains the familiar "voice in a desert". Mrs. Drikova wrote to President Petar Stoyanov. The Presidency forwarded the application to the General Labour Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. G.I.T. Deputy Chief in June 2000. in writing advises the woman to bring a lawsuit, because in the case there is a labor-law dispute. The Velingrad Regional Court made a decision on March 8, 2001: it sentenced Novotex-R, represented by the Executive Director Kostadin Chilingirov, to pay Nejie Drikova the BGN 526.50 due plus compensation of BGN 151.86 for delayed payment. However, the executive sheet from the court is still only a piece of paper, because even after the court case won, the woman has still not been able to receive the salaries of her deceased husband. Many more stories like Nijie Drikova's can tell the former workers and employees at Novotex-R. Once again last week they met with representatives of the two holding companies that privatized the firm - Labor and Capital and Albena Invest and the CEO Kostadin Chilingirov. At the October 17 meeting, the protesters' demand for immediate payment of wages was not accepted. We are talking about about 130 000 leva in total, due since 1998. Late in the afternoon of October 17, a meeting with the President of CITUB Zhelyazko Hristov was also held. He listened to both parties, consulted with debtors, and suggested ways of settling the dispute. The option for the two parties to agree on the debt-for-property swap scheme was rejected by the workers, as there were bans on the sale of property to the firm by the state. The second proposed way to solve the case is for workers to file a claim for bankruptcy and at a later stage to receive their money. However, a large majority of the protesters have court decisions and applications for a voluntary claim for payment of salaries. "Neither the state nor the judiciary can force the owners to pay our wages," workers wrote in a deliberate press release. Therefore, on October 18, they decided to switch to civil disobedience by blocking the road Velingrad - Pazardzhik and sent weekly protest declarations to the President, Prime Minister, Parliament and national media. People rely on the public's empathy for their problem. And documents about the fate of Nejie Drikova have sent to the director Chilingirov with a request for an urgent resolution of her case. The first day of the protest will be October 24, Wednesday. The intention of the protesters is to block the road Velingrad - Pazardzhik in the area of Kostandovo station early in the morning, between 7.30 and 8 o'clock. Tempo