The Construction Union in North Macedonia has warned it will contest amendments in the draft law on construction in the Constitutional Court, with the draft already in Assembly for approval.
The amendments foresee the extension of working hours in this sector to more than 40 hours of work per week. This is believed to be related to the construction of the 8 and 10-D corridor highways by American-Turkish consortium Bechkel&Enka. The company acquired the right to build two highways with a length of 110 kilometers, at a cost of 1,3 billion euros, with a special law approved by the North Macedonian Parliament on July 15th 2021.
However, based on the approved Law and the agreement reached with the construction company, other legal solutions are being approved in the Assembly through an accelerated procedure, including the construction law and four other laws related to the flow of work, expropriation, removing custom duties on construction materials and labor force.
The labor law in North Macedonia states that “the week has five working days, from Monday to Friday and includes no more than 40 hours of work, or 8 hours per day”. Legal provisions also provide for additional working time in special circumstances or the engagement of workers even on weekend days, in those activities where the work process cannot be interrupted, but this additional time is either compensated by payment or rest on other days.
The Construction Union says these provisions must not be interpreted as an opportunity for the schedule to be extended in this sector as well, therefore warning it will contest changes in the Constitutional Court.
Amendments are intended to be approved despite a 2020 ruling by the Constitutional Court, which overruled a legal provision that allowed companies to engage their workers for up to 60 hours a week.
The changes have also been opposed by the opposition parties who say that “they will do their best not to approve them”. VMRO-DPMNE and other opposition parties have submitted hundreds of amendments to prevent the approval – not only of the changes in the draft law for construction – but also of the entire agreement, which according to them is “the biggest corruption scandal in the country” due to signing it without first announcing tendering procedures.
The Government, however says that the highways will be built with or without the consent of the opposition, rejecting the claims of the trade unions and the League of Economic Chambers for violation of legal procedures and workers’ rights.
