Abolishing holidays violates human rights

The Bulgarian government and the EU Commission have different ideas about the importance of holidays during the economic crisis. While Antonio Tajani, EU Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, wants to give people more holidays in a bid to boost the economy, Bulgaria's head of government Boyko Borisov wants to abolish certain holidays. The daily Sega criticises Borisov's concept: "Both concepts are related to the economic crisis. Borisov as head of state and consequently a major employer is looking for ways to protect the budget from additional risks in view of the expected mass redundancies. ... Beyond the economic calculations the subject also has social and legal aspects. The first question is whether it is legal to cancel holidays and whether holiday is a basic right. As far as work is concerned, Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights forbids forced labour. In Bulgaria official public holidays are to be cancelled and replaced by work days without the consent of those affected. From this point of view one could see this as forced labour."

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