Filipçe: SDSM to reintroduce proposal in Parliament for a €600 minimum wage

Venko Filipçe, leader of SDSM, announced at a press conference that his party would once again submit to Parliament the bill seeking to raise the minimum wage to €600.

According to Filipçe, the initiative will be submitted at the beginning of September, immediately after Parliament resumes its work. He said the current minimum wage is not enough to cover citizens’ basic expenses.

“Citizens cannot be deceived. The figures cited by the prime minister, clearly from a world in which only he and his small group live, are not what citizens experience. They see empty wallets and empty refrigerators,” Filipçe declared.

The leader of SDSM stressed that, if the economic indicators are truly as favorable as the government claims, then one of the first steps should be to set the minimum wage at €600.

“Not 26,000 denars as it is now, but as much as people need to cover their basic needs and basic expenses, especially when the school year begins and living costs rise sharply,” Filipçe said.

He also announced that an increase in wages in several sectors would be demanded, with particular emphasis on healthcare and education. Filipçe cited measures implemented, according to him, during the previous government led by SDSM, when the base salaries of specialists and doctors rose by 40 percent, while the wages of education employees also increased.

Filipçe said that wage increases are essential in the face of rising living costs and that, through these demands, the party is presenting its position on the economic policies of the current government.

“The government led by Hristijan Mickoski has already begun its third year in office, and we see no results in any area. We see no results in the economy, healthcare, education or agriculture,” said the leader of SDSM.