MES and SONK have harmonized their positions, a decision is awaited from the membership of SONK for an agreement to be signed
The 15 percent increase in salaries from September and the non-reduction of salaries for the period during the strike is the epilogue of the negotiations conducted by the Trade Union for Education, Science and Culture (SONK) and the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) in the past 20 days mediated by a mediator.
During yesterday's several-hour meeting at the Ministry of Education and Science, the collective agreements were further specified and it was agreed that in the future, when creating the Budget, we will talk jointly with the union.
The recommendations of the mediator will be reviewed by the membership of SONK, after which an agreement is expected to be signed between the union and the Ministry of Education and Science within 10 days.
- I believe that our membership will accept these recommendations of the conciliator and that this will be merged into an agreement that must first pass to a decision-making body and the SONK Council will authorize me to sign an agreement, said yesterday the president of SONK Jakim Nedelkov.
The Minister of Education and Science, Jeton Shaqiri, says that there will be higher salaries in education, and he is satisfied that a mutually acceptable solution has been found in accordance with the budget possibilities.
- Apart from the settlement we had before with the minimum wage, we agreed on an additional salary increase of 15 percent with payment from the September salary. "I think this is acceptable for both sides in terms of budget opportunities in these times when the functioning of the state and budget management is difficult due to the economic and health crisis," Shaqiri said after the meeting.
- We managed to reach a significant agreement for the employees in education and increase the salaries by as much as 15 percent, starting from the September salary. This salary increase is the largest so far and together with the 21 percent increase so far is historically the largest support for employees in education. Until just five years ago, the maximum wage increase was 4 percent, without global crises, Kovacevski wrote on Facebook last night.
The strike in kindergartens and schools began on April 11 with a demand for a salary increase of 18,4 percent. The union was offered a 10 per cent and a 12 per cent pay rise, but such proposals were rejected by the membership.
On April 26, the strike in the kindergartens was put on hold with the explanation that it was done in the interest of the parents and the economy that suffers due to the inability to take care of preschool children. On April 28, the strike was called off after the union received a notification from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy that the MES was seeking a peaceful resolution of the labor dispute mediated by a mediator. After the appointment of the mediator by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the reconciliation process between SONK and the Ministry of Education and Science began, which ended yesterday with the harmonization of the positions of both parties at the expiration of the legally established deadline of 20 days.
Source: MIA
