Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1960)

1. Discrimination on the basis of national origin. The Committee had asked in previous comments for information on the implementation of the National Education Act of 1991 and the Council of Ministers Decree No. 232 of 1991 on mother-tongue study in municipal schools, in particular for Turkish-speaking students, in an effort to overcome the low educational level in Turkish minority communities. The Committee notes from the Government's report that Council of Ministers Decree No. 183 of 5 September 1994 repealed Decree No. 232; it offers students who do not use the Bulgarian language as their mother tongue the opportunity to study in their own language from first to eighth grade in municipal schools within the lessons scheduled for optional preparation; mother-tongue textbooks are not paid for, but the municipal authorities may be approached to purchase them. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on the application of the new Decree in practice, in particular statistics on the number of requests received, and granted, for both mother-tongue education in primary grades and mother-tongue textbook material. It would also appreciate receiving recent data on mother-tongue courses available in secondary and technical schools, and institutions of higher learning such as universities.

2. Discrimination on the basis of sex. The Committee notes that the Government's report does not contain information, as requested in the previous observation, on the policy to promote equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women workers. It does note, however, the information provided in the Government's report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (UN document CEDAW/C/BGR/2-3 dated 3 November 1994). The Committee observes from the data for 1992 and 1993 that in spite of the high female unemployment rate, women still constitute almost half of the employees in state and cooperative enterprises, and they predominate in the following sectors: public health, social insurance, sport and tourism; finance, credit and insurance; education; and culture and art (averaging approximately 80 per cent). On the other hand, their employment in industry, construction, transport and management sectors is well below that of males. The Committee asks the Government to inform it of any positive measures envisaged or under way to address this horizontal and vertical gender segregation in the labour market.

3. The Committee notes from the CEDAW report that the Government acknowledges that the repeal (in 1992 amendments to the Labour Code) of the prohibition on dismissal of women because of pregnancy is at variance with Convention No. 3, ratified by Bulgaria. It justifies this repeal as "it is aimed at abolishing women's privilege in the areas of hiring and contract termination", while at the same time admitting that it has, especially in the private sector, led to discrimination against female employment since employers still prefer to fill vacancies with men or very young women, who are not bound to family and children (page 14). The Committee is pursuing this question in a direct request under Convention No. 3. It would, however, in the context of Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Convention, remind the Government that special measures of protection provided for in other ILO instruments shall not be deemed to be discrimination.