Skopje, 20 January 2024 (MIA) - Public transport enterprise (JSP) representative unions say there will be no public transport in Skopje on Monday, despite the fact that an extraordinary session of the Council of the City of Skopje has been scheduled. The decision comes as JSP employees have not received their December wages. 

As regards bus lines that take children to school, given that the second term of the school year starts on Monday, the representative unions said a decision on that will be discussed on Sunday. 

Union leader Mikjo Stojanovski told MIA they hold to the decision that there will be no public transport on Monday when the session of the City's Council is scheduled, which has as the only item on its agenda the subsidizing of the public transport enterprise in the amount of EUR 11 million. 

"No buses will leave the company's bases on Monday morning. If the 45 councilors of the City of Skopje cared to make a decision on subsidies for JSP, they could have done so yesterday and today. We demand our December wages, and regular payment of wages in 2024," said Stojanovski.  

Asked whether public transport will be reinstated on the same day if the decision on subsidizing is made at Monday's session of the Council of the City of Skopje, he said that even if the decision is made, the procedure is unclear because the wages still need to be paid. He noted that the decision on JSP subsidies has been on the Council's agenda three times, and still dodged.

"If the decision is made at a reasonable time on Monday, so that the money can be transferred to the company's account, there will be public transport on Tuesday. Otherwise, JSP buses will neither run on Tuesday," Stojanovski said.

Photo: MIA archive