- Македонски
- English
On 28.04.2026 the President of SSM Slobodan Trendafilov, the Vice President of SSM for the Private Sector Ivan Peshevski, together with the presidents of SUTKOZ Stojanche Kashikovski, of SSDM Slagjana Milivojevic and Health Trade Union Ljubisa Karanfilovski with SSM representatives participated in the celebration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which was realized in cooperation and support of the ILO, under the motto: "Let's ensure a healthy psychosocial working environment".
Slobodan Trendafilov, as President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM), the largest and most numerous trade union in our country, in accordance with the Agenda of the event, took an active part and, within the framework of the introductory speeches, addressed the present participants such as representatives of all relevant institutions, social partners and all stakeholders when it comes to the occupational safety and health within the general field of labor.
The President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM), Slobodan Trendafilov, began his address by asking all present participants to first stand up and pay tribute to all workers who lost their lives at their workplaces in our country, as well as to pay tribute to their loved ones and families with a minute of silence, especially after the latest accident that shook the public when just a few days ago a young worker lost his life while performing his work tasks, due to the lack of healthy and safe working conditions, which throughout all the years of the very rich trade union movement of SSM has not ceased to be one of the main priorities for SSM within the framework of its active role in society.
- "364 days a year we should talk about safety and health at work, and today, on the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, we should be silent and pay tribute to the victims – to the people who lost their lives at their workplaces." - Trendafilov emphasized.
In this context, he called on those present with one minute of silence to pay tribute to all workers who lost their lives at work. We must not, he said, forget the names and surnames of people who came to work and then did not return home, nor forget their families, because they are the ones who then go through the most difficult period of their lives.
– "We must pay tribute to the people who lost their lives at their workplace, even today on the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. We should call the situations and the conditions by their real names, because every worker comes to work to earn money for himself and his family, to perform his work tasks, but above all he comes to work in safe working conditions and in a safe environment," said Trendafilov.
He expressed hope that the case that took place a few days ago will show the opposite, will show that those responsible have a name and surname and will show that they must bear responsibility for the tragic event that shook our country.
During his speech he also referred to the collective agreements.
– "Today we need to talk about how to establish protection from these psycho-social risks in the workplace through collective agreements. Unfortunately, today collective bargaining is under huge attack and with the abolition or annulment of a certain collective agreement and the possibility of abolishing other collective agreements, the opportunity to regulate and determine provisions and rights in the area of occupational safety and health through social dialogue is being taken away," noted Trendafilov.
The Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia called for an immediate resolution of the tragic case through the rapid implementation of all necessary procedures that will lead to the punishment of all those who did not respect the Law, did not respect their workers and allowed their going to work and workplace to pose a risk to their lives and health, which they should not have allowed, and all the above in the name of their own profits.
Healthy and safe working conditions of all workers must undoubtedly be the focus of all institutions, stakeholders and social partners who should first strive not only to create occupational safety and health policies that will prioritize preventive measures over corrective measures, but also to strive for all adopted policies to be strictly respected so as not to experience tragic events like the last one, which unfortunately only meant a strong message that our country still needs to work hard when it comes to occupational safety and health, which as a standard must not remain only on paper by making empty promises, but must be respected, applied and through it, efforts should be made to prevent and completely eliminate the dark chronicle that speaks of lost lives of workers and injured workers in the workplace in our country. The life and health of every single worker has no price, and that is precisely the main message that must be sent through such events.
We must admit that unfortunately the numbers and trends when it comes to lives that were lost and accidents that happened at the workplaces show us that all of us as active stakeholders in our society still have a lot of work to do when it comes to safety and health at work, and especially the social dialogue in this field must also be revived and improved as soon as possible in order to create policies that will promote healthy and safe working conditions in every sector and in every field. Only through active bipartite and tripartite action by the social partners in the country, an even better legal framework can be provided for the realization of workers' rights to healthy and safe working conditions, and especially the full implementation of every legal and sub-legal acts in the every day practice
The social partners must follow European and global examples that undoubtedly show that the promotion of collective bargaining in the area of occupational safety and health is the foundation that will allow us to no longer have to witness tragic events like the one that happened a few days ago, events that undoubtedly leave a mark on every worker and Macedonian citizen.
Workers' injuries create personal, family traumas and problems and this must not be forgotten. When we talk about the life and health of the workers, we also talk about the life and health of their loved ones and families, and the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia reiterates that the life of every worker is our priority and our concern and that is why we are open to cooperation, joint activities and action with both the State Labor Inspectorate and all other relevant institutions in the country, because we believe that only the joint activity of all interested parties can provide the expected results in this area.
The safety of every worker must not be a luxury, it must not be a choice, but it is an obligation for all of us, because every worker has the right to return home safely after completing their work duties, and it is the obligation of every employer to ensure this.
Workers are the foundation of every economy, and the Government and the policymakers, as well as every employer, must take this seriously, because if we do not take care of the workers' health and safety, we risk causing severe damage not only directly to the workers, but damage at the employers’ level, at the sector level, and also at the level of the national economy, making all of this to be another basis for further loss of workers' trust that their state, through its Government, takes care of them, that they are the Government priority over the profit and their own enrichment.
Workers must not be treated just as a number, they are the future of our country!
In memory of the dead, we continue to fight for the living.
