On Workers' Day, government is required to make minimum wage 350 euros

The spread of Avid-19 in Kosovo and the crisis caused by the pandemic has only deepened workers' problems. Many lost their jobs during the pandemic, some half the time they worked from home, creating a new reality, difficult for both workers and businesses.

In a response to KosovoPress, the Kosovo Statistics Agency shows the data that by the fall of last year, over 125 thousand unemployed persons are registered.

During the pandemic near the Employment Agency, the number of registered citizens has increased.

According to data at the Employment Agency in Kosovo, over 37 thousand unemployed persons have been registered in the first four months of 2020.

Kosovo Workers Union Chairman Avni Aydini says pandemic has mostly hit the private sector

This has usually affected the private sector more, even if with undeveloped economies we have been, and it took us to a more serious challenge in this regard. But I consider that by the end of the year, the recovery of the economy will begin that this epidemic will go away by taking away those vaccines that have been promised, and I believe we will start with the resumption of a more efficient” economy, says Aydin.

He says workers face various problems as regards their rights, freedoms and safety at work.

The always breaking is done by the government of workers, the biggest violators of the law are our officials, because during campaigns they promise, when they're released, and this goes down the stairs and loses the confidence of the persons we have in leadership of”, he says.

Aydin suggests he has requested meeting with Kosovo's prime minister to discuss, as he says, the workers' demands.

He says the government requires the minimum 350 euros wage, collective agreement, health insurance, pension scheme and the level of salaries under the law.

While living Mehmeti, researchers at the GAP Institute say of Kosova Prees that the first months of pandemic have noticed triple the number of job seekers.

In April, when the first effects of pandemic began, I talk about last year, we see a triple the number of job seekers, and it's reached 100,000 and then increased to 198 thousand during September. And what's evident from the data when we unscramble them is that the number of female job seekers is equal to male job seekers, which means women have lost jobs and are faced with the same challenges”, he says.

Mehmeti from the GAP Institute says workers in Kosovo continue to have problems with their salaries, security and other rights.

Kosovo's “workers face many difficulties, especially in terms of their rights, in terms of workplace security, in terms of pay. As you know in the private sector, it's quite low and the pandemic has only doubled if not more the difficulties workers face, especially in the private sector. It has been much easier for companies to dismiss workers without warning, and those few jobs that have existed in Kosovo even in those situations have become even worse since the number that entered the labour market each year is quite large”, he says.

Mehmeti estimates that the process of identifying the needs of workers, including those who have a working relationship and those who have lost their jobs, must be launched.

Twenty-five thousand young people each year entered the labour market in Kosovo.

The most pronounced unemployment is in women at 33.1%, compared to men, 21.5%. The most pronounced unemployment rate is among 15-24-year-old groups with 46.9%.