The Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia, in a public response, says that workers in North Macedonia create more than twice as much economic value as what they earn as wages, based on data from the International Labor Organization (ILO).
According to the indicator for the country's gross domestic product per hour worked, productivity in Macedonia is about 34 US dollars per hour, which is above the world average of 23,27 dollars. Calculated on a monthly basis, with an average of 168 hours worked, a worker creates 297.024 denars of economic value.
Despite this, the net minimum wage in the country is 24.379, which means that a worker who receives the minimum wage earns only 17 percent of the value he creates.
The LSM assesses that the distribution of created value is "disproportionate and unfair", with most of it ending up in profit, investments, depreciation, taxes and other capital expenditures, and not with workers.
"It is clear that efforts to stop the increase in the minimum wage do not stem from the productivity of workers, but from how rich the owners and officials are at the expense of the workers' labor," the LSM reports.
According to the union, the productivity of workers from the country is higher than that of several countries in the region, such as Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania, and close to the level of Bulgaria. However, the minimum wage in Macedonia remains significantly lower than most neighboring countries.
LSM concludes that workers are being exploited, and this situation, according to them, is supported by employers and institutions, emphasizing that there is economic space in the country for greater wage increases.
