• Monday, 01 July 2024

Skopje University trade union officials to meet with PM, ministers over pay raises 

Skopje University trade union officials to meet with PM, ministers over pay raises 
Skopje, 4 October 2022 (MIA) - Representatives of the Association of Trade Unions of the Skopje Ss. Cyril and Methodius University are set on Tuesday in the government to meet with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi and Education Minister Jeton Shaqiri, the head of the trade union, Angel Ristov, confirmed to MIA. “We will present our demands at the meeting with the premier that we’ve had for two years – signing of a collective agreement and gradual pay raise, 25 percent annually before getting to a 100-percent raise after four years for the staff at the country’s oldest and largest university to be paid a decent and dignified salary,” Ristov has recently told MIA. The Skopje University trade union organized a warning strike to voice its demands on June 2. A protest in front of the government was also planned to take place later that month, but it was cancelled after the government promised that the union’s demands will be discussed by the ministries of education and finance. Higher education salaries in the country are one of the lowest in the region, according to him. On Monday, PM Kovachevski said he expects to have open talks with the Skopje University's trade union as regards pay raises of professors. He also announced that pay raises by 7%-8% this year is being planned.