Current situation
The economic situation in Albania is critical. The price of bread and other basic foodstuffs has gone up. The price of petrol and gas are also increasing. The price of energy is also expected to spike.
1 in 5 citizens of working age is unemployed. Wages and pensions are very low and they are devalued by the day from the rise in prices. Working conditions are dire.
In mines, construction sites and the energy sector, the lives of thousands of workers are hanging by a thread. In the manufacturing industry and elsewhere, the health of the workers is deteriorating daily. The self-employed and small businesses are threatened by bankruptcy. In the villages, peasants are forced to leave their farmland barren.
The economic problems are worsened by the failure of the government’s social policies. In hospitals, service is provided in exchange for bribes. Schools are suffering from overcrowding and demotivated teachers. Universities produce armies of unemployed holding a diploma and the overwhelming majority of young people want to leave Albania.
The air we breathe, the water we drink, the space where we live and the nature that surrounds us is being polluted, destroyed and appropriated by the rich and powerful.
Divided from one another and in despair, hatred grows in our midst and manifests itself in the form of violence towards women and the humiliation of the weakest.
Albania and other countries
Albania ranks last in Europe in terms of income per capita (median of 195 euros/month), but first in the region for high food prices.
In Albania, we procure 7-8 times less income than the median European citizen, but the prices of foodstuffs reach 83% of the median European prices.
10% of Albania’s population lives below the absolute poverty threshold. The highest percentage in Europe.
33% of Albanians are considered poor (relatively). This is the highest level of relative poverty in the Balkans.
3% of the rich possess more wealth deposited in the banks (4.1 billion euros) than 97% of the population put together (3.2 billion euros).
According to the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), a citizen in Albania needs 115 euros/month to live at the threshold of minimum income.
A family in Albania (two parents and two children) need on average 247 euros/month to live at the threshold of minimum income, but social benefits do not go above 82 euros. Three times less.
A family of four in Albania spends on average 676.14 euros/month. This standard can be reached with two median wages (or three minimum wages) in the family.
41% of expenses for an average family in Albania go for food, whereas in the EU only 13%.
The minimum wage in Albania is 219 euros (after taxes). The penultimate in the Balkans.
23% of workers are employed in private companies in Albania with more than 10 workers receiving minimum wages. This is the highest percentage in Europe.
What are our demands?
Life without rights is poor, unbearable and hopeless. This is why we need to get together, to fight and to realize those rights that bring prosperity, meaning and dignity to our lives.
The Social Charter is a set of basic social-economic rights that every citizen of the Republic of Albania must benefit from.
We demand:
Minimum income of 148 euros/month;
Minimum wage of 354 euros/month;
Indexation of wages and pensions;
Free public healthcare;
Free public education;
Social housing programs;
Affordable public transportation;
A truly progressive tax system;
Collective agreements in the workplace;
Full employment policies;
Gender equality;
Amelioration of environmental conditions.
What stands in our way
The realization of our rights is hindered by a handful of cruel oligarchs and politicians. For years now they divide among themselves our collective wealth that lies below or above ground – oil and chromium resources, rivers, forests, beaches, parks etc. – and all the economic potential of the country. We’re falling into a downward spiral of poverty; they swim shamelessly into a sea of wealth.
In order to intimidate us, they use the state and organized crime. In order to con us, they control the media and the influencers of public opinion.
The truth is simple: the oligarchs, the government and the “oppositional” parties are the claw that tightens around our necks, depriving us of air and hope.
For how long?!
What is to be done?
Dear citizen and companion!
Reading this leaflet is the first step in our common struggle for prosperity and social justice.
We need to organize immediately! Everywhere, in workplaces, neighborhoods, schools and all other spaces where people get together to talk about their plights.
Without organizing we cannot grow in ranks;
Without organizing we cannot grow stronger;
Without organizing the oligarchs and powerful will continue to exploit us, rob us and humiliate us.
Our organizing shall lead us towards protests, strikes, boycotts and legal initiatives – in streets and squares, in factories and schools, in front of every institution that has been usurped. With anger in our hearts, with the goal of achieving our social needs, inspired by our ideals and in solidarity with one another, we demand:
Work and life with dignity!
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