Skopje, 29 July 2025 (MIA) -- No one should be telling citizens what their necessities are; they should raise their living conditions and paychecks instead, Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia president Slobodan Trendafilov told a press conference Tuesday. "No one, even in communism, dared tell workers when, what and how much to eat," he said.

"I think this is a wrong move," he said, commenting on a recent announcement by Minister of Economy and Labor Besar Durmishi that the government would start publishing its own estimates of the minimal costs of living in the country.

For years, the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia has published the so-called "minimal consumer basket," a monthly estimate of how much average households need to earn so they can cover their basic living costs.

"Instead of gaslighting the public and attacking our union about the amounts in our basket, they should have raised the salaries," Trendafilov said ahead of the Economic and Social Council session scheduled for Wednesday, when government representatives are set to present their own formulas developed to calculate the cost of living for different groups of citizens.

Responding to reporters' questions, Trendafilov said if the government did not like the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia's living wage estimates, it should estimate its own expenses and allow workers access to the government's dining rooms. 

"The unions' minimal basket does not say what we need to survive but shows policymakers we can't live on these wages. If this bothers them, let them come up with their own baskets, but they also should come up with a governmental basket and turn the government's dining rooms into a workers' canteen," Trendafilov said.

He said the unions' estimates best reflected the cost of living in Macedonia.

"The unions' minimal basket shows whether we can afford basic foods and living conditions," the union leader said. "What they want to do is, most likely, tell people how much they should eat today and where to buy this food, despite the low pensions, despite the lowest minimal wages." 

He said paychecks were too low in both the public and the private sector.

If workers were paid better, according to Trendafilov, "no one would be talking about the amounts in the basket or about needing one, three or five baskets -- one for a single person, one for a young couple, one for pensioners."

Earlier, Trendafilov said union representatives invited to the Wednesday's session of the Economic and Social Council would demand a minimal monthly wage of EUR 500 and Mden 6,000 raises for all other workers.

Last week, Minister Durmishi said the Ministry of Economy and Labor was developing a new methodology to calculate the basic living costs of average citizens and would present it at the session.

According to the economy minister, the government would start publishing its own estimate of the basic living costs for a family of four.

The Ministry of Economy and Labor was also developing estimates of the basic living costs "of retirees, students, three-member families; they all have different needs," Durmishi said.

He said senior citizens spent more on medication and young people spent their money on other things. mr/