8 hours agoSkopje: Public Administration Workers protest salary hikes
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)The employees of several ministries and state institutions in northern Macedonia, including those of culture, justice, environment, economy and labour, transport and digital transformation, as well as the State Statistics Ent, protested on January 14th due to the disapproval of increased additions in salaries -- a requirement that has been repeated over the years. They requested the signing of [...]
They demanded the signing of collective contracts and the adoption of additional salaries to 30 per cent.
Protesters accused the Ministry of Finance of failing to take necessary measures and stressed that, since the new government's formation, they have held meetings with most of the relevant ministers and have submitted proposals needed for reaching the collective agreement.
“later, with the support of ministers, have surrendered to the Ministry of Finance. Although these proposals for collective agreements have been submitted to the Ministry of Finance prior to the adoption of the state budget for 2025, but for unintelligible reasons for us the Ministry of Finance has not approved means for signing them”, said Trpe Deanoski, chairman of the Administration Workers Union.
Currently, the average salary in these institutions where officials are protesting, as Deanoski stressed, is around 29,000 denars (471 euros), while the average state-level salary in northern Macedonia is 42,124 denars (684 euros).
The 30 percent extension we're looking for means that workers will have salary increases of 6,000 denars [100 euros], but despite that, all employees will again be under the average state salary. Our request is more than four years old”, he added.
Minister for Digital Transformation Stefan Andonovski, on a television show on 13 January said the problem with salary increases lies in individual collective agreements of several institutions, which have raised wages for some workers, while the rest of the administration has remained with unchanged salaries. He stressed that the ideal solution would be a unified wage system guaranteeing equality for employees with similar competencies.
On the other hand, the Macedonian opposition provided support to protesters. They underlined that the Government is tasked with providing conditions for signing collective agreements and raising wages.
“We understand the anger of employees in the public sector and support their demands for salary increases, which are fully justified”, stated by the Social Determoxodite League (LSDM).
The protests, as the ministry officials suggested, will continue during this week, every day from 11:00 to 11:30, and on Friday, they will be moved in front of the Ministry of Finance, where they will express dissatisfaction with the nonsignation of collective contracts.
The Union of Administration, Customs and Citizens' Associations (AOGJSH) has called on the Government of Prime Minister Hristian Mickoski to lower and agree to an agreement in order to have no additional departure of workers from the public sector.
Meanwhile, from Government days ago, it was announced that they did not accept such a request from trade unions, but also added that a 30 per cent increase at the moment, “is beyond the reach of the state budget”.
In the state budget for 2025, total revenues are planned at the level of 358.8 billion denars (5.83 billion euros), a 13 - percent increase compared to 2024, while total expenditures are projected at the rate of 400 billion denars (6.50 billion euros), marking a 10 - percent increase compared to last year's budget. / REL/
