Skopje, 8 August 2023 (MIA) - Employees of the Media Information Agency (MIA), organized through the Union of Media Information Agencies (SMIA) and the Independent Union of Journalists of Macedonia (SSNM), expect Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski to deliver on his promise given in the weekend interview with the agency that the proposal for increase of the salaries in the state-owned news agency will be adopted at the next Government session. Meanwhile, the protest is put on hold.

If the PM's promise is not materialized by the next Government session, employees will start the strike procedure, meaning no MIA news production. The strike will take place in front of the Government building.

The MIA management has briefed the staff that the item on the wage increase was removed from the agenda of the Government session held on August 1 with the explanation that agency should harmonize its financial plan with the Ministry of Finance and submit a new decision with a request for increase of the wage points, something that the MIA management says has already been done.

MIA is seeking for approval to raise wages, for which funds have already been projected in the budget and from the agency's earnings. Due to the fact that the MIA staff has received no wage increases in recent years, we will not accept the percentage of the already offered increase for public sector wages, say the unions.

Photo: MIA archive