Skopje, 19 November 2024 (MIA) – An increase of 10 percent in the money supply intended to raise salaries in healthcare will be regulated with an annex to the healthcare collective agreement after an agreement was reached in a meeting between the two trade unions of health workers and the government.

The pay raise will be applied starting November after a working group comprised of officials of the Health Ministry and the Health Insurance Fund will work on aligning the annex.

The agreement was praised at a news conference Tuesday attended by the heads of the two unions and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski after their meeting. 

The annex to the collective agreement will further motivate healthcare workers and the collective agreement is a two-way act and an expression of good will, said Ljubisha Karanfilovski, president of the Independent Trade Union of Healthcare, Pharmacy and Social Protection.

After long negotiations, an agreement was reached that will significantly improve the financial status of all employees in health institutions, thus recognizing their hard work, dedication and professionalisation, said Predrag Serafimovski, president of the Independent Trade Union of the Skopje Clinical Complex.

“The pay raise is the result of the hard work of the two unions together with the government, meeting the demands for better working conditions. The unions remain committed to resuming the dialogue to improve further the working conditions and improve the health system generally,” he told the news conference. 

PM Mickoski called the signing of the document ‘a historic moment’. 

The trend of increasing salaries in the health sector will continue in the coming years, he pledged. 

“In March 2025, there will be 5-percent increase in the money supply for salaries of health workers. Salaries in 2026 will raise 5%-7% depending on the condition of the budget. We plan on increasing the salaries by 5%-7% in 2027 and by 7% to 10% in 2028. This means healthcare salaries will increase between 45 and 50 percent, a historic achievement,” stressed Mickoski. 

Photo: MIA