Skopje, 8 February 2026 (MIA) - We have reached an agreement with the Government, this is a historic achievement for public administration workers, said on Sunday the heads of the representative unions after a meeting with Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski. Individual collective agreements will be signed covering around 11.000 administrative workers who will receive wage increases of nearly 40 percent by 2028.

At a joint press conference, the head of the Trade Union of Workers in Administration, Judicial Authorities and Citizens' Associations (UPOZ), Trpe Deanovski, and the head of the Trade Union of Public and State Administration (SADU), Blagoja Ralpovski, said considering the General Collective Agreement in the public sector is expired, negotiations will soon need to begin on the signing of a new General Collective Agreement. 

“After almost 1.5 years of negotiations and demands by UPOZ, we have reached an agreement with the Government – individual collective agreements will be signed with which the workers in the administration and judiciary will receive a pay raise methodology. On many occasions in the past we stressed that these workers are somewhat left aside, but with this pay raise we will have an even more favorable right than what is in the General Collective Agreement, as well as a system that until 2028 will guarantee they have dignified wages. What remains now is to finalize the text of the collective agreement, which I believe will be the least problematic part, and to sign all individual collective agreements so that the employees can receive higher wages,” the head of UPOZ said. 

The head of SADU, Ralpovski, described the agreement as a historic achievement. 

“Today we are seeing a historic achievement for public administration workers. This raise should have happened last year. I am glad that our colleagues finally accepted this as the more favorable right for the employees who have always fallen behind with their wages and had the lowest wages in the public sector. This is a historic moment,” Ralpovski said. 

Prime Minister Mickoski assessed the agreement as a bold and historic step, adding that he now expects administration workers to ensure better services for citizens and businesses. 

Photo: Government