Skopje, 14 March 2023 (MIA) – The Autonomous Trade Union of Workers in Health, Pharmacy and Social Care, as a signatory of the Branch Collective Agreement for the health sector which covers 15.000 workers, reacted to the statement made by Deputy PM Fatmir Bytyqi in an interview Monday with Sitel TV, about not signing the Annex of the Collective Agreement in order to increase the wages of the workers in the health sector, and regarding which, said the Union, negotiations with the Ministry of Health and the Health Insurance Fund have been ongoing since October 2022.

On Tuesday, the Autonomous Trade Union requested urgent meetings with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and Minister of Health Fatmir Mexhiti. If the meetings are not held by the end of the week, on Friday the Union’s Council will convene and adopt a decision for additional, more radical activities.

Regarding the statement of the Clinical Hospital Workers' Union that if an agreement on larger wages isn’t signed by Friday they would hold protests, Bytyqi said that this is unlikely to happen.

“We insist on a general collective agreement, which would include everyone in the public sector, and then further define branch collective agreements from there. Rushing to get what we can get is not a solution. We have demonstrated that it is better to discuss, to have dialogue, because the solutions are more sustainable that way. What we did with the minimum wage is proof enough that if we negotiate to find a sustainable solution, we will find it,” added Bytyqi.ad/nn/

Photo: MIA archive