Skopje, 5 July 2023 (MIA) – It is possible that at the beginning of next week we will define what will happen to the wages of public sector employees, by how many percent they’ll be increased, as well as the payment of holiday pay. There is a serious nearing of our demands and what the Government can offer, said the President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM), Slobodan Trendafilov, after the meeting Wednesday of the working group of the Economic and Social Council at the Ministry of Finance.

The unions and the Government have agreed to hold one more meeting on Monday, and to use the period until then to consult with their bodies and decide whether what has been discussed is acceptable for the unions and the public sector, and the Government to carry out additional calculations on the basis of today’s discussions.

“We believe that in this way we can reach a joint solution fairly shortly, i.e., we will know what will happen to the wages in the public sector at the beginning of next week, by how many percent they’ll be increased, as well as the payment of holiday pay,” stressed Trendafilov.

Trendafilov also said they expect the Ministry of Finance to carry out additional calculations during the day, and share them with the unions so they can make the appropriate decisions.

Asked to comment on the surprise of government representatives over 14.2 percent being used as a parameter for the wage raise previously requested by the unions, Trendafilov said that politicians have to give political statements, and that the unions have an understanding for such statements.

“We think we should resume and have a final solution on Monday in terms of the growth of public sector employee wages. It is important to know that we, the employees, need to be satisfied by the wage increases in the public sector, as well as the amount of holiday pay, and it is important to know that the government representatives had an understanding for our demands at the meeting today,” said Trendafilov.

Asked if they are getting close to the 14.2 percent wage increase, Trendafilov added that it remains to be seen which parameter will be taken into account when it comes to the calculation of wages, and all public sector employees should receive the same increase in September.

“We are getting close to what we’ve been talking about, 14.2, 12.55 percent, 10.9 percent as a basis upon which the wages of public sector employees will grow. Regardless of whether certain wages were increased by a certain percentage or amount in the past period, they will all get an increase in September, which we will agree on and finalize on Monday,” added the SSM President.

Photo: MIA