Skopje, 8 April 2024 (MIA) – Health workers, who protested Monday in Skopje demanding better pay, urged an annex to the collective agreement to be signed right after the formation of the new government. 

They called on the political parties vying to form the new government to sit down with the trade union of health workers for talks and to fulfill “everything they have been promising in their election campaigns.”

They vowed to organize massive protests if their demand for the signing of an annex was not met. 

“We will not back down from our demand for the signing of an annex to the collective agreement,” Ljubisha Karanfilovski, president of the Independent Union for Health, Pharmacy and Social Protection, said. 

“Now, we demand 15 percent to be added to the annexes already approved by the government as a result of the minimum wage, raised in March. Also, 90 percent of the new healthcare collective agreement is complete,” Predrag Serafimovski, president of the Trade Union of the Clinical Center, told reporters calling on the health minister to form a working commission as soon as possible tasked with finishing the collective agreement before the document is signed. 

Moreover, Serafimovski said that the Clinical Complex should be managed by one director and one administrative board. “It has been managed by six directors and 33 administrative boards, which has proven to be a waste of money. By scrapping those, the salaries of the health professionals can be increased,” he stated. 

One of the main priorities of the new government should be to motivate the health workers.

“We’ve been warning that health workers have been quitting. Motivated professionals in the healthcare should be the main priority of the government. That’s why we’re protesting today. They need to understand that motivated workers in the healthcare is very important and should be taken into consideration once the government is formed,” stated Karanfilovski. 

Union officials are expected to have a meeting with the caretaker health minister after the protest for talks on their demands.

The protest, held under the motto “Health workers protest for better pay”, is supported by the Association of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM). 

Photo: MIA