Skopje, 2 April 2025 (MIA) – SDSM leader Venko Filipche said at Wednesday’s press conference in response to a journalist’s question, that SDSM supports workers’ demands for a minimum wage, but is not behind the union protests.

He urged the government to meet workers’ demands.

"I call on the government to address workers’ demands. Wages are low, prices are out of control and people simply cannot survive. It is rational and realistic to demand that the minimum wage be set at Mden 30,000. There is a way to implement this, while a methodology exists, political intervention can always amend the law to meet these demands," Filipche stated.

He reminded that SDSM had proposed amendments and draft laws to raise the minimum wage, increase public sector salaries and support private sector wage growth through a system of exemptions from additional payroll taxes, aiming to ease the burden on private sector employers.

“Not a single one of these proposals was accepted by the government,” he said.

Regarding the polls for the local elections, he said that they would be postponed due to the tragedy in Kochani.

"We have postponed the start of the polls, they will begin next week. This decision was made out of respect for the tragic events in Kochani. Because of this, candidate selection might happen in April or May, which means a slight delay of one or two weeks. So far, we haven’t spoken with other political parties outside our coalition, but in the past few days, discussions have started with our coalition partners," he said.

Photo: MIA archive