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Position of ССМ

The Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia, as the only representative Union in the country, always fights for workers rights, especially in this period, conveying the requests of the workers, members of SSM. In the following period, no matter who forms the new Government, SSM shall continue with its demand to protect and promote workers’ rights.

Position of SSM:

The new Labor Law should contain European trends.

In that direction, SSM is committed to:

• fixed-term employment contracts only in exceptional objective conditions and lasting up to 1 year

• 38 hours working week,

• maternity leave of 12 months,

• the right to salary adjustment to be governed by law and Collective Agreements

• full realization of the right to annual leave

• Saturday and Sunday to be days of weekly rest

• improving healthy and safe working conditions in companies.

• Respecting the conventions on freedom of trade union organizing and functioning

• The employer should be obliged to start negotiations within 30 days from the submitted draft proposal of the Collective Agreement at the level of the employer by the trade union.

• Improving collective bargaining (signing the GCA for the private and public sector) and social dialogue at all levels because our rights cannot be decided without us.

Introduction of several conditions for retirement in the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance

In addition to the existing retirement requirements, the following retirement requirements should be introduced:

1. Age pension – years of service

• 35 years of service - woman - regardless of age

• 40 years of service - a man - regardless of age

2. Age pension - by age or length of service - by activities

 

 

3. Early Age pension

It is proposed to introduce the right to early retirement workers who would be eligible after the age of 60, with a minimum of 15 years of service.

Beneficiaries of early retirement pensions may be workers who work but cannot continue to work for certain reasons (health, work, and cannot be declared disabled due to bankruptcy or liquidation) or are unemployed and meet the requirement - minimum 15 years of work experience. This type of pension would be realized only at the will and request of the employee.

This retirement requirement in almost all European Union countries is known as a general retirement condition and it is met at the age of 60.

4. Incomplete Age pension

• to enable workers to pay the pension and disability insurance contribution themselves if they have not met the requirement of at least 15 years of service,

• the right to self-payment of the contribution, to be applied to workers who lack up to 3 years of work experience from the minimum 15, and meet the age requirement (62, i.e. 64 years).

5. Introduction of beneficial years of service for construction workers as well as other activities where work tasks take place in particularly difficult working conditions that are detrimental to the life and health of workers.

Minimum wage

At the initiative of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia, the Law on Minimum Wage was adopted in order to protect workers from excessively low wages paid in the country and at the same time the established minimum wage represents an element of policies to combat poverty and reduce inequality.

SSM points out that in conditions when the Trade Union Minimum Basket for June 2020 is 33,487.00 denars, there is a real need to increase the minimum wage, which according to European recommendations and trends should be at least 60% of the average wage in the country.

The Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia continuously advocates and demands increase of the minimum wage in order to improve the standard of workers with the lowest wages and their families. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the growth of the minimum wage and this increase of the minimum wage to be the basis for a gradual increase in all workers' wages, which can very easily happen through the collective agreements.

Protection of workers who are in isolation or self-isolation due to COVID -19

 

Due to the difficult existential situation in the past 4 months since the beginning of the health crisis caused by the Corona virus, a large number of workers found themselves infected by performing their work tasks, i.e. they were isolated due to exposure to the virus at their workplaces. Due to that, the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia considers that:

"In Article 3 paragpraph 1 of the Rulebook on the list of occupational diseases (Official Gazzette no. 118/20) – to be added - a new paragraph which reads as following: Workers from other activities employed in institutions where contact and exposure to Covid 19 is possible."

In addition to healthcare workers, a number of workers from other industries and institutions are taking part in the activities to combat the contagious disease and this disease should be treated as an occupational disease with the right to 100% salary compensation.

1. In the Law on Health Insurance, in Article 17 paragraph 2 after the word "motherhood" to add the text "absence due to infection with COVID 19, isolation and selfisolation due to exposure to COVID 19.

During their work, all workers are exposed to direct contact with a large number of people, and since it is a still unexplored infectious disease, workers are no longer to blame for their illness, they must be in isolation due to exposure to infectious disease. Any reduction in workers' wages during this period is life-threatening for the worker and his family, as well as dangerous for preventing the further spread of the disease.

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