- Македонски
- English
Respected,
On behalf of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM) and the Trade Union for Civil Engenering, Industry and Design of the Republic of Macedonia (SGIP), we address you with this Request in order to point out that SSM together with SGIP, although the only representative trade unions and national social partners they were not even consulted during the adoption of the Basic Law, the Law on Determination of Public Interest and Nomination of a Strategic Partner for the Implementation of the Project for the Construction of Infrastructure Corridor 8 (Section: Tetovo – Gostivar – Bukojčani and the Trebenishta – Struga – Qafasan Highway Project) and Corridor 10 d (section of the Prilep - Bitola highway) in the Republic of North Macedonia ("Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia" No. 163/2021), although this is an obligation according to the ILO Convention on Labor Clauses (public contracts), and the obligation is and the Government, before doing anything, to consult the representative representatives of the workers and employers, and the SSM and SGIP were not consulted or informed by the proponents of the new proposals for amendments and additions to the Law on Labor Relations submitted by 14 MPs in the Parliament after abbreviated procedure, although for more than 5 years a new ZRO has been negotiated and at no time during those negotiations were these proposals considered, and this further indicates to us that the entire negotiation process is flat-rate and is not conducted on honest and correct grounds , but the views of the involved unions, the civil sector and the scientific and professional community in the country are not respected at all, with one goal, to please a foreign consortium to the detriment not only of the workers but of the entire State.
We remind you that last year SSM together with the Construction Union - SGIP launched an initiative regarding the provision for working hours of 60 hours per week for the construction of Corridor 8, which provision was abolished as unconstitutional and illegal by the Constitutional Court with U. no. 148 /2021-1 and U.No. 15/2022-1, that is, Article 12 of the Law on Determination of Public Interest and Nomination of a Strategic Partner for the Implementation of the Project for the Construction of Infrastructure Corridor 8 (section: Tetovo – Gostivar – Bukojčani and the project for the highway Trebenishta - Struga - Qafasan) and Corridor 10 e (section of the highway Prilep - Bitola) in the Republic of North Macedonia ("Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia" no. 163/2021) and which we are submitting to you as an attachment to this request if you haven't seen it.
In view of the fact that the Decisions of the Constitutional Court are not commented on, as is the case with the Decision of the Constitutional Court Abolishing Article 4 of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Salary and Other Compensation of Elected and Appointed Persons in the Republic of Macedonia published in Official Gazzete No. 65 of 23.03.2023, and MPs are called upon to respect them, a certain group of MPs, knowing about the Decisions of the Constitutional Court U. No. 148/2021-1 and U. No. 15, is extremely incorrect towards the workers /2022-1, in order to play the position of the Constitutional Court, proposes the arrangement of such a provision in the Law on Labor Relations, not taking into account the Constitution, Laws, Collective Agreements, Decisions of the Constitutional Court, international labor standards, the Working Time Convention, European directives and other international documents and directly tramples decent working hours and decent work as one of the greatest benefits of civilization.
At the same time, we use the opportunity to remind you that the Constitutional Court with Decision U. no. 4/2022 did not initiate a procedure for evaluating the constitutionality of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Labor Relations ("Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia" no. 288/2021) in relation to the initiative of the Chamber of Commerce of North Macedonia and concluded that with The Law on Labor Relations prescribes a favorable legal solution with a significant impact on the material and social position in the realization of the rights of workers, as in relation to the realization of a non-working day on the week and receiving compensation for work on Sundays and on holidays, with which protect and promote the rights and interests of workers, both in terms of rest on a non-working day, as well as compensation for work on Sundays and holidays, thus wanting to satisfy an employer for business interests against the life and health of workers for the unions illogical, inhumane and extremely unprincipled and against the interests of the workers, against the demands of the foreign employers and consortium.
We want to remind you that May 1st is marked precisely as a sign of respect for the victims of the strike that took place from May 1st to 4th, 1886. in Chicago, which was organized with the aim of introducing an eight-hour working day, so with the Proposal of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Labor Relations under the abbreviated procedure, a small group of deputies is making an attempt to the fundamental right to decent working hours and decent work, which was elected in The year 1886 should be trampled on by Macedonia and the Macedonian workers should be returned 137 years ago!
At the same time, we use the opportunity to point out to you that the workers, who are also your voters, did not give you a mandate and did not elect you as people's representatives to put yourself in a servile role and to please foreign consortia and business interests to the detriment of lives and health. to the workers from whose sweat you take the parliamentary salary now increased by 78%, but to protect the workers and citizens and not allow anyone else's interest before their health, life, and livelihood, why without workers, there are no voters, and without voters, there are no MPs either!
In the name of solidarity and humanity above all, we ask you to immediately reject this inhuman proposal because the workers do not have a spare life, they do not have a spare homeland, nor do they have the constitutional opportunity to waive their right to daily, weekly and annual leave because this is a fundamental constitutional right that workers must enjoy.
We must not allow anyone to play with the life and health of the workers, so from here the SSM and the Construction Union - SGIP will use all the mechanisms at their disposal to preserve this pillar of workers' rights, which is the decent work time to apply to Macedonian workers the same as it applies to European workers.
It's not just about the workers, it's about the state as a whole.
With respect,
President of SSM
Darko Dimovski
President of SGIP
Ivan Peshevski
