The SSM union, supported by SDSM and Levica, held a protest today in downtown Skopje to demand increasing of the minimum wage to 600 EUR and a 100 EUR increase in all salaries.

The protest took place between the Parliament and the Government building, where SSM leader Slobodan Trendafilov issued his demands.

Hours before the protest, the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party accused SSM of politicizing economic issues in favor of the SDSM party. According to VMRO spokesman Valentin Manasievski, the public sector union was offered a 40 percent increase in the next two years, but this was refused by SSM.

Trendafilov is very loud when SDS is in opposition, and silent when they are in power. He rejected a proposal of a 40 percent salary increase only because he didn’t want to sign the new collective agreement. Coincidentally, Filipce and Apasiev have the same position with Trendafilov, said Manasievski.