General strike in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) off the agenda for now
A strike in FYROM's education sector announced by ETUCE's Macedonian member organisation SONK on 29 September 2014 was averted at the very last moment. Following ETUCE's written intervention at the Macedonian Ministry of Education and ETUCE's ad hoc meeting with SONK in Skopje, the Ministry had suddenly agreed to return to the negotiation table only on the very day before the expected strike.
At this meeting the Ministry declared its readiness to resume a constructive social dialogue with SONK and to resolve a number of outstanding issues including those connected with teacher evaluation as well as with working conditions in early childhood education and culture. SONK's council made a decision that concrete results have to be achieved by the end of 2014. In the event of failed negotiations, SONK will discuss a new date for the general strike in the education sector. ETUCE continues to monitor the development of the coming weeks and months.
