(Photo: Robert Atanasovski/AFP via Getty Images)
An agreement was reached last week between the Macedonian government and trade unions, including BWI affiliates, ensuring that workers’ wages in the public and private sectors would not be reduced and/or terminated during the COVID-19 crisis.
The agreement was the result of an Economic and Social Council meeting on 31 March attended by representatives from the government, organized labour and the business community. They stressed that the health crisis must not lead to a labour market crisis, and workers’ health, safety and livelihood must be secured.
Some of the other measures agreed during the meeting are special compensation for sports and art workers and additional unemployment benefits and compensation for workers in the informal economy.
The government also adopted a set of economic measures to lessen the impact on the economy, such as financial support to the private sector, additional interest-free loans to small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises and a moratorium on bankruptcy procedures for the next six months.