Macedonia

As we write this, a group of citizens that have completed over 25 years of work and were left without any income whatsoever after their companies went bankrupt are striking in horrible conditions. These �bankruptcy� workers can�t meet the requirements to retire or receive social allowance from the Employment Bureau, demand from the Government to solve their problem by either finding them jobs, or by securing them a monthly allowance of, hopefully, 100 Euro until they meet the retirement criteria.

Workers are dying or get seriously injured in the workplace everyday. A worker of �Granit� Construction Company was burried under a rock while working to open the road to �Sveta Petka� Hydro Electric Powerplant. Another worker was killed while installing air-vent system in Delcevo. A mechanic was crushed under a metal plate while repairing a truck. Another died while inflating a tractor tire that exploded because it was not put, as regulations require, in a special metal cage to prevent just such an event. The female workers in textile factories fall unconscious working in temperatures that, in the summertime, can reach 40 degrees Celsius. They can�t breathe because the owner didn�t install ventilation or air-conditioning systems.

Occupational hazard prevention is almost non-existent. The labour inspectors and representatives of the Association for Protection at the Workplace agree that workers lack proper conditions. The owners don�t care much about the health of their employees. All they want is quick exorbitant profits.

�The employers really want to squeeze all they can from their workers�, says Agim Sakiri, Head of Safety in the Workplace with the State Inspectorate of Labour. �Today, the only definition of safety and security in the job is if a worker receives his or her paycheck regularly and if his social allowances are paid. Safe and secure work, however, is much more than that�.

High unemployment rates and the spreading poverty force the workers to take up any job on offer. They don�t even take into consideration the safety on the workplace, whether it is in construction sites, mines or textile factories.

The transition in Macedonia started at the same time as in all other countries in Eastern Europe, in 1991. It also meant the same as elsewhere, a major shift of both economic and political relations and circumstances, i.e. introduction of market-oriented economy and political democracy. The brunt of those changes, especially the privatization of formerly state and socially owned companies and enterprises, fell on the working men and women. Due to bankruptcy, insolvency, redundancy and what not, many workers lost their jobs.

On the other hand, the lack of adequate social policies to ameliorate the consequences of the rising unemployment has led to a feeling of social insecurity with the workers. According to the National Bureau of Statistics the average net-salary in Macedonia in January 2007 was 13,884 denars (approximately 230 Eur). Yet, 13.5% of employees didn�t receive what they have earned. Of the total active population, 578,810 persons held a job (64.1%) while 35.9% remain unemployed.

According to Law on Labour Relations, the working week is set at 40 hours (for full time employees). For workers that work in particularly difficult, effort-intensive and hazardous positions, and if the damaging effects can�t be fully eliminated with protective measures, the working week can be shortened, but not less than 30 hours per week, states the collective bargain agreement.

The salary is secured from the assets of the employer, proportional to the jobe done and a worker�s contribution to the earnings and profits of the company, in accordance with terms and conditions set in the law and the collective agreement.

Alas, little of what is prescribed by Law is actually implemented in practice. Often the workers are forced to work for 12 hours a day (which would make for 60 hour working week) for a salary of 6,000 denars (approximately 100 EUR). Also, often they are employed and work illegally, without their social allowances being paid and regulated, which is a criminal offense.

However, the high unemployment produces another problem regarding protection of labour rights. At the current unemployment rate, the workers are simply too afraid and intimidated to seek their rights, for it was proven on many occasions that employers find it the easiest solution to fire the �rebellious ones� and just hire new people in their place, who might be more quiet in order to preserve their measly pay-checks from disappearing altogether.

The union movements in Macedonia don�t know or don�t want to use the power they hold in their hands to improve the overall situation of the working class. This is a position held by Lazar Jovevski, whose Collective Barganing i the first book that treats the problems of the trade unions and their relations and negotiations with the government and chambers of commerce in the country.

Jovevski says that it is common in EU and the U.S. for political parties to seek election or political support from the trade unions, which in turn use that powerful weapon to fight for their rights. He believes that the Government shouldn�t avoid the fact that it has an interest to attract and channel union leaderships towards their platforms, but the trade unions should do their part and stick to their demands and policies and pressure the Government towards improved protection of their rights.

The thing is, the trade unions in Macedonia can�t even agree on the people that would represent them and appear as government�s negotiations partner, although there is need for that whatsoever. According to the current legislation, each trade union that is backed by more than a third of all employees in an industry or sector will have the legitimacy to enter negotiations with the employers or the government. The establishment of a unified committee that would make stronger impression on the social partners in collective bargaining should then be just a matter of formality. Or shouldn�t it?