The Confederation of Trade Union Organisations of Macedonia (KSOM) sent a message to the mayor of Skopje: the public transport company JSP is operating with an internal problem that has already generated hundreds of court cases. The union's general secretary, Goce Delcev Todev, summed it up in one ironic sentence: „Orce should pick a JSP director - let the Muslims drive on Zadusnica, the Christians on Eid."

Behind the irony is a real problem. JSP has 360 bus drivers - and 107 of them are Muslim. That's nearly 30% of the workforce. On Christian religious holidays (Easter, Zadusnica, Christmas), the buses traditionally run on a reduced schedule - but when Eid al-Adha falls on a working day, the same regime doesn't apply. Result: Muslims are forced to drive on their most important holiday.

It's a technical problem with serious moral weight. In a country that presents itself as multicultural, where the Constitution guarantees religious equality, it can't be neutral that one set of believers gets their holiday and another has to drive a bus. It's not discrimination „by law," but it is discrimination „in practice."

And it isn't the only problem at JSP. According to the unions, there are more than 350 court cases filed against the company - with the help of seven lawyers. The main points of dispute: unpaid holiday allowances, miscalculated overtime payments, allowances for night work. That's a huge number for a single company with a few thousand employees.

KSOM is asking for an extraordinary inspection by the Labour Inspectorate. That's the logical move - when hundreds of workers go to court over the same violation of rights, it's not a series of individual cases, it's a systemic problem in management policy. What's particularly striking - according to the union, JSP's management refuses to talk to the independent unions, and that's building quiet tension ahead of a possible larger labour dispute.

It's also a test for mayor Orce Gjorgjievski. Why? Because JSP is under the authority of the city of Skopje. When hundreds of employees are suing a company that falls under the city, the mayor cannot be neutral. That means: either he backs the workers and pushes for management changes, or he leaves them to wrestle their rights out of every possible institution on their own. Until then, the rhetoric about a „city with soul" turns into an audition for political PR.