Skopje, 8 February 2026 (MIA) - An agreement has been reached, around 11.000 administrative workers will receive a wage raise of almost 40 percent by 2028, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said at a press conference Sunday after a meeting with the representative unions of public administration workers.

“This is a broader package that will include, along with employees in the courts and public prosecutor’s offices, around 11.000 workers. With this, the Government, as the largest employer, is pratically reaching an agreement with its colleagues, and that agreement will remain in force until 2028. We have previously signed similar agreements with employees in education, healthcare, and other institutions. Once all of this is finalized, the Government, as the largest employer, will have fully regulated its relations with its colleagues across the institutions. This is a historic moment, because never before have we had such a plan for raising wages and aligning them to reach a dignified level,” Mickoski stressed.

The Prime Minister assessed the agreement as a bold step taken by the Government.

“These are the bold steps the Government is taking, even in the face of global and domestic challenges that, of course, affect the economy – through mature and responsible management of public finances, as a state, we are able to fulfill these commitments, and now we have reached an agreement that must be further operationalized through individual agreements. As both union leaders mentioned, and as we in the Government have been repeating for some time, the General Collective Agreement has expired, even though its transitional provisions state that it remains in force until a new one is adopted,” Mickoski said.

Mickoski noted that the Government is also prepared to negotiate a new General Collective Agreement with the two largest union organizations in the country, SSM and KSS, by 2028.

“We, as the Government, are ready to sit down, within this period up to 2028, though I expect it will happen sooner, together with the two representative unions, SSM and KSS, and negotiate a new General Collective Agreement. This agreement would serve as the single instrument on the basis of which wages will be paid. At the same time, it would be a tool available both to workers and to the Government. We believe such a win-win arrangement, where both sides benefit, and above all, the citizens and the country, can be achieved through mature cooperation and growing trust. I think that, slowly but surely, we are building this trust with certain structures within the unions. I won’t say with all, but with some. Unfortunately, there are structures that remain tightly bound to the political embrace of certain parties,” Mickoski said.

Photo: Government