Skopje, 30 March 2023 (MIA) — Employees of the Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Heritage Protection Office and the Film Agency will gather for the fifth time to protest for an hour their low salaries. This time they will rally in front of the Government, following their protests in front of the Ministry of Finance after it denied them raises but raised the salaries of its own staff by 30 percent, the unionized workers said at their one-hour protests Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

On Wednesday, they were joined by Cultural Workers Union members. Protesters said they expected to be joined by administrative staff from other government ministries as well.

They have been rallying in front of the Ministry of Finance demanding to meet with Minister of Finance Famir Besimi and sign a collective agreement for 30-percent raises.

According to Ministry of Culture union leader Branko Kostovski on Friday, when the protest started, a significant percentage of people employed by these three state institutions earned below the average salary.

He claimed that employees doing equal work in other cultural institutions in the country were paid 10,000 denars more. 

"On a paycheck of 25,000 denars, which is what some 70 percent of the Ministry of Culture employees earn, you can't survive month to month," Kostovski said.

He said the union had submitted a draft collective agreement providing raises for the union members last year but the Ministry of Finance had dismissed the proposal. A few days later, 30-percent raises had been approved for Ministry of Finance's own employees, he said.

Kostovski said they would hold mass protests in front of the Ministry of Finance every day until their demands were met. mr/