CEZ dealing with strike in Bulgaria

Bulgarian workers for Czech electricity supplier CEZ, which serves Sofia and western Bulgaria, went on strike Thursday demanding higher wages and protesting planned lay-offs. Unions and the company agreed late Wednesday to a 23-percent raise in salaries but talks broke down over additional bonuses and planned personnel cuts. CEZ is legally obliged to continue supplying electricity during strikes and minimum-requirement emergency teams are on stand-by to restore power in case of major blackouts. The Czech utility holds a 67-percent stake in the power grid in western Bulgaria where it has 1.9 million customers.