Bulgarian protesters demand higher wages

SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 16 (UPI) -- Thousands of Bulgarians employed in state-run companies gathered at a protest rally in Sofia Tuesday, asking the government for higher wages, unionists said.

Zhelyazko Hristov, head of the confederation of independent trade unions, condemned the government for not consulting the unions before it froze salaries of state and public employees, the Bulgarian news agency Focus reported.

Hristov put the number attending the rally at 12,000. The protesters demanded the government revoke the bill banning rallies outside the state and government institutions.

Industrial and steel workers, miners, farmers, teachers, doctors and students attended the protest that criticized Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev's economic policy.

Hristov said Stanishev should have coordinated his anti-crisis activities with employers, government officials and union leaders.

Bulgarian union leaders said they want to show their dissatisfaction with living in what they call the most corrupt and poorest country in the European Union.