Skopje, 1 May 2025 (MIA) – May Day protest participants, organized Thursday by the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM), gathered in front of Parliament called on lawmakers to pass changes to the Law on Minimum Wage allowing minimum wage to increase to EUR 500.

SSM President Slobodan Trendafilov told protesters to turn their backs on Parliament in order to “see what it feels like when workers turn their backs on them.”

“Today, those who demand dignified wages for dignified work are on this side of the barricades, while those having privileges are on the other side of the barricade. Your luxury is our hard work… We told them we will come in great numbers, a lot more could come unless they pass changes to the Law on Minimum Wage and raise all other salaries,” Trendafilov said.

It’s heart-breaking, he said, that on May Day, which marks the workers’ fight for an eight-hour workday, these people behind us passed a law allowing 12-hour workday in Macedonia, something that had been cancelled around the world in 1886.

The union leader accused the MPs of refusing to pass changes to the Law on Minimum Wage, allowing the minimum wage to raise to EUR 500 and the salaries of all other workers to raise by EUR 100, all the while enjoying myriad of privileges, including a 79-percent increase in their salaries.

“We demand as soon as possible that they should demonstrate they are here for the workers and with the workers,” Trendafilov stressed.

After gathering in front of Parliament, protesters marched toward the Economic Chamber to call on employers “not to hide” because “it is the workers who earn them a living while in the end they are left with nothing.

The union will remain to serve as the defender of workers’ rights, it was noted.

SSM’s May Day protest demanding 500-euro minimum wage and an increase by EUR 100 of all other salaries and respect of collective agreements and workers’ rights ends with a gathering outside the government. 

Photo: MIA