The Macedonian Trade Unions' Union (LSM) announces that workers will soon take to the streets, and according to the vice-chairman of the LSM Council for the Private Sector, Ivan Pesevski, the protests could escalate into a general strike. The exact date for the start of the protests will be determined next week when the highest authorities and bodies will meet.
"By the end of this month, protests will certainly happen, probably around January 25. To start, we will organize a large workers' protest, and then we will act according to the workers' wishes. We are ready to organize a general strike," Pesevski says in a statement to "Sloboden Peçat".
He explains that the protests are not just about increasing the minimum wage, but about increasing all wages.
"Our demand is now a minimum wage of 600 euros, but also an increase in all other wages of 6,000 denars. In the private sector, where collective agreements are respected, wages are adjusted. According to the General Collective Agreement for the Economy, everyone expects the minimum wage.
"So, if it increases to 600 euros, this will also affect all other workers, because the minimum wage must be multiplied by a coefficient, which will also increase other wages," says Peshevski./Telegraph/
