Rama emphasized that financial reward of employees is an investment.

“This is no longer a matter of wage raise in the private sector, all this is about combating exploitation. This is nothing but exploitation. Paying minimum wages on one hand and buying villas on the other is tantamount to exploitation. This should not happen, and we will take measures to correct the pay rate situation,” said Rama.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the government cannot set pay rates in the private sector, but what it can do is increase the minimum wage.

“We will not provide any service to companies that do not properly reward their employees. We will not allow participation in tenders of construction companies that report minimum wages for workers. They lie, because no construction worker climbs the scaffold for a minimum wage. Those who get paid in cash should be declared, otherwise they will be robbed of their future,” said Rama.

The Prime Minister said that we cannot give construction permits to companies that want to build apartment buildings with workers who do not receive a decent salary.

“We are working, we are setting requirements and we will extend this to other companies that receive services from the state. They don’t have to take them. We cannot support companies that exploit Albanians with citizens’ money”, he said.

/sm/