Skopje, 21 July 2023 (MIA) - The increase in wages in the public administration by 10 percent as of September 2023 will not apply to officials whose salaries were previously increased by 78 percent by a decision of the Constitutional Court, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska said Friday. 

"The officials are not employees in the public sector and the wage increase provided for by the agreement we reached with SSM will not apply to them," Trenchevska told Kanal 5 TV. 

She pointed out that the increase in the salaries of officials is not a decision of the Government, but a decision of the Constitutional Court, which is not commented on but is only implemented.

"The Government is looking for a way to reduce the salaries of the officials, but we cannot implement this only by our decision, but a decision of the Parliament is also required. In addition, with the decision of the Constitutional Court, the salaries of mayors have also increased by 78 percent," said Trenchevska. 

She noted that the 10 percent wage increase as of September for the public administration is the biggest so far, at least since 2003.

President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM), Slobodan Trendafilov, said the 10 percent wage increase may not be enough, but it is a good basis for moving forward.

"The public administration will now have predictability and will know that wages will increase in the future," said Trendafilov. 

Trenchevska noted that increasing the wages will also require an increase in the productivity of the public administration, to which Trendafilov said that there are no bad and unproductive workers, but only low-paid workers.

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