On the 30 and 31 of October 2006 was held a seminar in the Forum Hotel in Sofia, organized by the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa. The role of the trade unions in protection of their members against discrimination was the main topic for the discussions held during the seminar, in which CWSP took active part. Mrs. Nathalie Lucasson and Mrs. Asa Tillberg who represented the Swedish Union of Civil Servants ST which has 100 000 members, 66% are women presented historical aspects of the gender equality policy development in Sweden as well as the contemporary problems of trade unions related to protection of their members in cases of discrimination on the work place.

The protection of the s trade union’s members is still very hard in court because of the shared burden of proof of discrimination between claimant and defendant. In the majority of cases, the court revokes the claim because discrimination was not clearly shown. In some of the cases the claim insists on the application of the direct effect of the EU Directives when it is evident that their requirements have not been well implemented in the national legislation. However it is still difficult to proof the facts of discrimination in court which is the main reason to develop the collective bargaining as a tool of prevention of discrimination on the work place. Bulgarian trade union’s representatives agreed that the collective bargaining is the better way to defend their members where it is possible and where the dialogue with the employers is possible instead to help them in court or in proceedings before the Commission on the Protection against Discrimination in Bulgaria.