- Македонски
- English
Exactly seven months ago, the members of the Trade Union of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia (TUCRM) stood in this same place and protested against the delay in salaries, which should have been paid in accordance with the Law and the Collective Agreements.
In its desperate calculations as if it were not respecting the rights of employees in the culture sector, the Ministry of Culture left 3,000 people without a salary precisely on the greatest Christian holiday – Easter.
From the “laboratory” in the ministry, they “agreed on a formula” – how to prepare solutions that would deduct from employees’ salaries, bypassing the Collective Agreements and unions. That same unsuccessful experiment is today on its way to experiencing a total debacle.
Tired of the long-standing unfair treatment and the treatment they received with every adjustment to the minimum wage and the application of the OKD, the employees in the culture sector, under the protection of the TUCRM, decided to initiate a lawsuit.
Most of them were not only concerned with the withheld part of the salary, but also with the principle of the line ministry's actions and the vile trampling on the dignity they unexpectedly received from this Ministry.
Over 1,000 complaints were filed by a union with over 1,500 members.
Of these, more than 200 complaints were adopted by the Management Boards of the institutions, while for 800 complaints that were not adopted, SKRM initiated court proceedings. That's right, SKRM filed 800 lawsuits!
And today, from this place, we announce LOUDLY:
THE FIRST LAWSUIT IS ADOPTED from a series of 800 court proceedings for the protection of the rights of employees in culture!
IT IS CONFIRMED that cultural workers are victims of illegal decisions and unfair calculation of salaries!
IT IS ORDERED that institutions finally respect the law and the dignity of cultural workers.
With this ruling, the Court confirmed that the rights of cultural workers were violated by illegally adopted salary decisions, and that the legal basis must be respected.
This first victory is clear evidence that the fight for dignity in the cultural sector is legally sound, justified and deserved.
Despite timely warnings from the SKRM that the decisions were illegally prepared, the Ministry remained deaf, and the result was announced today by the court.
This ruling sets the foundation for all the remaining 799 procedures that follow.
It was confirmed that the SKRM was right, and certain people in the Ministry of Culture who, through the Minister of Culture, forcibly implemented these decisions in the institutions were in error.
The same people who have been "tailoring" salary decisions for the last two years have once again adopted illegal decisions with nominal amounts instead of a legal formula.
These illegal solutions were prepared by both the previous and current governments, by the same people.
We received an official response from the Ministry of Finance, signed by the Minister of Finance, that the calculations of salaries in culture are prepared exclusively by the Ministry of Culture, while the Ministry of Finance only approves their fiscal plans.
We also asked the Ministry of Culture for an answer on how the famous formula withholding salaries was arrived at. Although our letters were sent to the financial and legal sectors and personally to the Minister of Culture, we did not receive an answer.
Therefore, today we publicly ask:
Who ordered it, and who prepared the famous calculation with which cultural workers were damaged?
On what basis and under what law was it made?
Who will bear responsibility for such damage, when the documents do not have the signature of the preparer and the responsible person? [Who sent the email from MK to the institutions with instructions, without name and surname, drafter and sender]
And, let's be precise: who are these "untried lab technicians" who created this nebulous formula?
Will anyone be held accountable for the legal costs that the institutions are now exposed to?
Will the same ones now protect the directors in culture, against whom the SKRM has filed criminal charges for abuse of office and disregard for laws and collective agreements?
Are the same ones behind the initiative to repeal the Collective Agreement for Culture before the Constitutional Court, as a desperate attempt to destroy a fair principle and return to the chaos of determining salaries by phone?
With over 200 already adopted complaints from the Boards of Directors and new lawsuits filed for salary differences, the financial implications are becoming more serious.
Therefore, we once again call for reason and agreement –
The Ministry should sit down at the table, agree on a solution to the dispute, and thus avoid a financial collapse in the institutions.
That way, the institutions will not pay huge legal costs, and the minister will finally stand behind his employees, free from pressure and the lies he has spread.
If that does not happen, the SKRM will continue the legal battle, but in the end, it will seek responsibility for the damaged budget that occurred solely and solely because of someone's whim.
