Skopje, 29 January 2026 (MIA) - In principle, I support every initiative by any worker who, in a democratic way, demands their right to a higher wage. And here we should all stand in agreement, across party lines, that every worker seeking a higher wage deserves support, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said at a Q&A session of Parliament on Thursday.

In answer to an MP’s question, the Prime Minister said the Government is a mediator in the two-party dialogue between employers and employees, noting that this is principled and mature behavior that every government should follow.

Referring to Wednesday’s union protest organized by the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM), Mickoski said the SSM leadership presented many “falsehoods, fabrications, and insults,” adding that they have shown themselves to be “completely politicized, instrumentalized, and driven by anger and hatred toward the Government”.

Mickoski said the Government is responsible to its colleague and within the first year of its term has signed collective agreements with unions in education, science, culture, and health.

“Somewhere around 95 percent of the total number of employees. So, we’ve had dialogue with our employees, with our colleagues, and we have concluded that dialogue with a collective agreement. As an employer, we are responsible for this and together with the representatives of our colleagues we’ve regulated our relations,” Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister said the right address for the protest and demands for higher wages are the employers, as well as, “those who were in power for seven years and robbed and pillaged the country, including the workers, and blackmailed businesses”.

Mickoski said SSM had previously refused an offer for the wages of all administrative workers to be raised by 40 percent over 4 years on the condition that a formulation for a single collective agreement be found.

"The current wage should serve as the base, which will now naturally increase, and that amount will rise by eight percent this April 2026. That is X money. Next year, that X amount will again be adjusted to the minimum wage and then increased by another eight percent. That becomes Y money. In 2028, that Y amount will again be adjusted to the minimum wage and once more increased by eight percent. This means that from April this year until April 2028, the overall increase will be around 40 percent, with the signing of individual or sectoral collective agreements," Mickoski said, adding that this offer to the unions still stands.

Photo: MIA