Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin met with trade union leaders of the Mangystau region, who arrived in the capital to undergo advanced training.
The meeting was attended by Advisor to the Chairman of the FTURK Birzhan Nurymbetov, Chairman of the Committee on Socio-Economic Relations and Social Partnership Baurzhan Musin, Chairman of the Branch Trade Union “YNTYMAQ” Kayrakbay Zhanabekov, lawyer of the Branch Trade Union “YNTYMAQ” Tolegen Shaimov, chairmen of local trade unions of employees of LLP “M- Techservice” Kydyrkeldy Ayaganov, LLP “Munayfield Service” Akhmet Suirkhanov, JSC “Ozenmunaygas” Serik Bekbergenov, as well as the chairmen of the primary trade union organizations of “Kezbi” LLP Ulykpan Zholmurat and ” TrubRemCenter ” LLP Zhanbosyn Shandybayev.
Trade union organizations are part of the Branch Trade Union of Small and Medium-sized Businesses “YNTYMAQ”.
This year, labor disputes arose at many of these enterprises, which were resolved in favor of employees with the direct participation of the Branch Trade Union “YNTYMAQ” and the Trade Union Center of the Mangystau region.
The heads of trade unions of oil companies informed the leadership of the Federation of Trade Unions about the current situation in their labor collectives and raised topical issues of oil workers requiring their permission.
Chairman of the primary trade union organization of the TrubRemCenter LLP trade union Bakhytzhan Meretamanov noted that the demands of the workers were met thanks to the timely support of the Federation of Trade Unions, the Branch Trade Union and the Trade Union Center of the region.
“Since the creation of the trade union, we have been able to solve the problems that have accumulated over the years. This was made possible thanks to your direct participation in the negotiations. Legal assistance was also provided in resolving labor disputes and social and labor disputes within the framework of the law. Thank you for this support,” Bakhytzhan Meretamanov said.
Trade union activists note that the situation in labor collectives is stable today, but there are still problematic issues that need to be addressed, including issues of raising wages and creating decent working conditions.
“Ensuring decent wages in accordance with the productivity and quality of labor is still the main issue for oil workers. This is the main cause of our labor disputes and may lead to even more conflicts in the future. Therefore, we ask for the support of the Federation of Trade Unions,” said Akhmet Suirkhanov, chairman of the local trade union of employees of Munayfield Service LLP.
Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions Satybaldy Dauletalin instructed the chairman of the Branch Trade Union “YNTYMAQ” to pay special attention to the voiced problems.
He noted that the improvement of the remuneration system is on the agenda of the Federation and this is one of the main objectives of the Strategy of the FTURK for 2020-2025.
Satybaldy Dauletalin noted the contribution of trade unions in promoting the issue of raising the minimum wage from 42,500 tenge to 60,000 tenge from January 1, 2022, indicated in the President’s Message “Unity of the people and systemic reforms are a solid foundation for the prosperity of the country.”
The position of the Federation of Trade Unions is to gradually bring the minimum wage into line with ILO standards, that is, its size should be 50% of the average salary. In this regard, the need for ratification of ILO Convention No. 131 and legislative consolidation of the annual indexation of wages was noted. The Federation of Trade Unions has set up a special working group with social partners to implement these measures.
“The indexation of wages is regulated by a collective agreement. Currently, there are more than 145 thousand collective agreements in force in the country, of which indexing is available only in 10%. Consequently, this norm requires mandatory legislative consolidation. This is the position of the Federation of Trade Unions. At last year’s Congress, the Federation set the task of raising the minimum wage, legislating the norms on indexation and ratifying the ILO Convention on the Establishment of Minimum Wages with special attention to developing countries. The first step is done. Therefore, we strive to gradually raise the minimum wage to a level that meets international standards. We are currently working on advancing two other tasks,” he said.
Satybaldy Dauletalin also informed about the visit of the FTURK delegation to the headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva and to the office of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in Brussels.
According to him, international experts supported the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Chairman of the FTURK emphasized the need to resolve labor disputes through constructive dialogue within the framework of the law. He noted that the current legislation is ineffective in resolving labor disputes, and recalled that the Federation is working on amendments to the Labor Code to simplify the procedure for filing lawsuits and strikes.
“Our main task is to improve the system of protection of labor and socio-economic rights and interests of employees by introducing amendments and additions to the legislation. The proposals you made at today’s meeting will be taken into account in this work. The trade union is the mainstay of the Labor Man. Thanks to the intervention of trade unions, 90% of labor disputes were resolved positively. Most of the strikes were illegal. It is difficult to follow all the procedures. Therefore, we are considering simplification within the framework of legislation. Strikes are our main tool. But it cannot be used illegally. This must be resolved within the framework of the law. In fact, territorial unions of trade unions, branch trade unions and the Federation have their own vision in this regard,” Satybaldy Dauletalin said.
In this regard, the Chairman of the Federation stressed the importance of measures to form a high level of legal culture of trade union employees, trade union activists and trade union members.
It should be recalled that trade union leaders who participated in labor conflicts in the Mangystau region are taking part in a training seminar organized by the Federation of Trade Unions in Nur-Sultan. As part of the two-day training, they will be trained to ensure high-quality protection of workers’ rights by trade unions before employers and state bodies in the event of social and labor disputes. During the training, lecturers will explain the norms of labor legislation, as well as present negotiation mechanisms and ways to achieve consensus.