- Македонски
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INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DECENT WORK, OCTOBER 7
On the International Day for Decent Work, SSM emphasizes that behind every employment statistic stands a person: a worker who has the right to a salary they can live on, to working hours that do not exhaust them, to paid overtime and holiday work, to rest, safety, and a collective agreement that protects their rights.
Today in Macedonia we must ask openly: is work truly decent if the worker, even after a whole month of work, cannot cover basic living costs?
The minimum wage in 2026 is 26,046 denars net. The minimum wage must not be just a legal minimum, but must be the basis for a decent life.
The worker cannot be the one who feels price increases the most, yet participates the least in wage increases.
The worker cannot work more and live less.
Decent work also implies decent working hours.
That is why SSM warns against any attempt to normalize overtime work, especially through solutions that allow a significant increase in overtime for certain workers employed at facilities of strategic or national importance. Special working conditions must not become a pretext for permanently reducing worker protection.
National interest must not be above workers' interest.
If a project is of national interest, then the worker building that project is also of national interest.
Therefore, the worker must be paid for every hour they work. Overtime must be recorded and paid. Work on the weekly rest day must be paid. Work on holidays and non-working days must be paid according to the law and the collective agreement.
A worker cannot be asked to give their free time, their health, and their family time, and then have that effort be invisible on the payslip, not seen in their salary, absent from their pocket.
At the same time, we are witnessing attempts and pressures that open up the most important topic: collective bargaining.
The collective agreement is not a cost.
The collective agreement is a guarantee that the worker is not alone before the employer.
Through collective bargaining, workers obtain salary, allowances, working hours, overtime, leave, severance pay, safety and health at work, and other rights. That is why every attack on collective agreements is also an attack on the mechanism through which workers jointly advance their rights.
The International Labour Organization itself recognizes collective bargaining as one of the key mechanisms for determining wages and improving working conditions.
Decent work is not built by reducing rights; decent work is built by increasing salaries, respecting working hours, and strengthening collective bargaining.
On the International Day for Decent Work, SSM's message is:
DECENT WORK IS NOT A LUXURY.
IT IS NOT A PRIVILEGE.
IT IS NOT A BENEFIT.
DECENT WORK IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF EVERY WORKER.
And that is why SSM will continue to fight...
