The representatives of the Independent Trade Union of the Private Sector, say that more than 50 thousand people lost their jobs in 2021, whereas, they are asking the Government of Kosovo that the minimum salary be at least 400 euros.
The President of ITUPSK, Jusuf Azemi in an interview for KosovaPress, said that the data of TAK are not the same as their data, in terms of the number of people who lost their jobs during 2021.
“Our data do not match the data of TAK and other data, as we consider workers even those who have not had employment contracts. In 2021, including the pandemic, the number of people who have lost their jobs has reached over 50,000 with employment contracts and without contracts”, he said.
Azemi talks about their proposals regarding the minimum salary.
“We have come to a situation where the worker does not even ask the government, but may not even ask the union about the minimum salary… The Government of Kosovo cannot intervene between the employer and the employee, but when it comes to the minimum salary, we are fighting for the minimum salary to be 400 euros, since in Kosovo, about 3000 workers are paid with this salary… Regarding the issue of the minimum salary, it has its own path, we cannot sanction it, we will ask that the minimum salary be what we are looking for, but otherwise the Government of Kosovo would probably have been better not to change at all, than to come up with a proposal of 250 euros. There are the same demands that were before the previous governments. We do not have an application of the labor law, we do not have a collective agreement, it is not signed at all, we do not have an application of the law on occupational safety and health, and we are requesting that these existing laws be in force regarding the employer-employee relationship, and they must be implemented”, said Azemi.
According to him, the workers do not work for a salary of 250 euros, and that companies will lose.
“The biggest losers will be the owners of the companies, because the workers no longer work for 250 euros, so we have our price, and for my price, I decided myself, not the government and whoever… many construction companies and physical security companies have started hiring workers who are already retired, because they have a shortage of manpower”, he said.
Further, he shows in which cases the minimum salary should be given.
“The minimum salary in normal conditions must not be given to workers, since the minimum salary according to the laws of the international labor organization, which also obliges us, it can be given only in exceptional conditions of that country, if there is a natural disaster that is reasonable, and if the company goes bankrupt, the company has the right to pay the minimum salary, otherwise under normal circumstances it cannot pay the minimum salary”, he said.
The Independent Private Sector Union, has conducted research, where they say that a family of four members cannot survive with a salary below 460 euros.
