Railway traffic in Macedonia is blocked for the second day today, as workers demand a pay increase of between 30 and 40 percent.

The management of the public railway company has denounced the strike as illegal and Transportation Minister Goran Sugareski called on the workers to go back to work, insisting that he will not negotiate with them if they blackmail the company.

The machinists say that they are entitled to a pay rise for overtime and for working when understaffed.