A new General Collective Agreement for the Public Sector is in its final stages of preparation and is expected to be inked by the end of June.

This was announced at a press conference on Sunday by Minister of Labour and Social Policy Spiro Ristovski after a meeting with the presidents of the Association of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM) and the Free Trade Unions Confederation (KSS) - Zivko Mitrevski and Rasko Miskovski respectively.

He said the signing of the agreement would provide complete harmonisation with current amendments of the Labour Relations Law, Minimal Wage Law and other legal ordinances regulating issues related to labour relations and workers' rights.

"The current general collective agreement signed in 2008 needs to be amended. As a result, I've held talks with the trade union leaders in order to define what has been prepared by our joint teams i.e. the drafting of a new general collective agreement for the public sector," said Ristovski.

The new general collective agreement will cover all employees in the public sector, not only trade union members.

"The general collective agreement defines the rights and duties of workers and employers in the public sector as well as the manner in which mutual disputes are settled. The collective agreement can be applied directly and is mandatory for every employee and employer in the public sector," the minister stressed.