On Thursday, March 10, a meeting of the Coordinating Council of the Territorial Association of Trade Unions of Zhambyl region was held with the participation of Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Uteshev.
The meeting was attended by members of the Coordinating Council, chairmen of branches of branch, local and primary trade union organizations.
The meeting was opened by the chairman of the Trade Union Center of Zhambyl region Baglan Karasholakov.
Deputy Chairman of the Trade Union Center of Zhambyl region Bakhtiyar Karaulov reported on the results of the trade unions of the region for 2021 during the meeting.
According to him, the Trade Union Center coordinates the work of 14 branch trade unions. Last year, 5 meetings of the Coordinating Council were held, during which issues of repayment of wage arrears, prevention of occupational injuries, opening of new primary trade unions and other issues were considered.
Within the framework of social partnership, 47 meetings of tripartite commissions at the city and district levels have been held in the region since the beginning of the year.
Bakhtiyar Karaulov noted that trade unions pay special attention to issues of collective-contractual regulation.
The level of collective agreements has reached the highest levels in the country. Collective agreements were concluded in 6869 out of 11 thousand enterprises registered in the region.
According to him, 56 new primary trade union organizations were opened in the region last year, and the number of trade union members in the region increased by 2,499 people.
“Today there are 123,606 trade union members in 1,398 primary trade union organizations of the region. This indicator is the result of joint work with local executive bodies and industry trade unions. This work will continue,” Bakhtiyar Karaulov said.
According to the speaker, 14 meetings were held in the primary trade union organizations of the largest enterprises of the region with the participation of akim of the region Berdibek Saparbayev. In addition, 28 meetings of trade unions with entrepreneurs and farms were held in the districts, covering 1010 people. At the meetings, trade union representatives raised such topical issues as avoiding wage arrears and job cuts, as well as the possibility of raising wages and creating new trade union organizations.
“As a result of joint work with local executive bodies, 195 enterprises of the region increased the wages of about 25 thousand employees by about 24% last year,” Bakhtiyar Karaulov said.
According to him, the largest industrial enterprises of the region are involved in the projects of the Concept of zero injuries and “People’s Control”. To date, these projects are implemented by 7 companies, including Kazphosphate LLP, Zhambyl Regional branch of KTZ JSC, Zhambyl Power Supply Distance branch, etc. In addition, 1004 occupational safety production councils have been established and operate at the enterprises of the region, in which 1330 technical labor protection inspectors exercise control.
Bakhtiyar Karaulov also noted an increase in the number of accidents at work. Last year, 42 cases were registered in the region, where 64 people were injured. 35 people were seriously injured, 12 people were slightly injured.
“However, 17 people died, which indicates an increase in mortality. The main reason for this is the increase in road accidents, i.e. 19 out of 42 accidents were fatal. The remaining 23 accidents occurred due to the fault of the employer and the employee to one degree or another due to improper labor organization and negligence of the employee,” said the deputy chairman of the Trade Union Center.
Of the 35 organizations in which accidents have occurred, 19 have trade unions.
Bakhtiyar Karaulov stressed that it is necessary to strengthen public control over compliance with labor protection requirements by trade union representatives and keep them under strict control.
Deputy Chairman of the Zhambyl regional branch of the Kazakhstan Branch Trade Union of Small and Medium-sized Businesses YNTYMAQ Asanbek Nauryzbayev spoke about the importance of developing social partnership at the meeting.
According to him, social partnership is one of the mechanisms for ensuring not only social, but also economic stability.
He proposed to improve the mechanism of collective bargaining, get rid of declarative agreements, and introduce innovative approaches in this direction.
Chairman of the Zhambyl regional branch of the Branch Trade Union of Agricultural Workers Bazantai Daniyarov, in turn, spoke about the work to increase the number of primary organizations over the past 2 years.
“In 2020, the branch consisted of 51 primary trade union organizations with coverage of 2,861 trade union members. In January 2022, the number of primary organizations doubled to 104, and the number of trade union members reached 3,663 people,” Bazantai Daniyarov said.
The chairman of the Taraz branch of the trade union of Kazphosphate Plant of Mineral Fertilizers LLP, Yulia Frolova, in her speech reported that the collective agreement at the enterprise was extended for another 3 years due to changes in the company.
“We are currently working on proposals for a new collective agreement. The main issue is the increase in wages. This is due to rising prices for consumer goods and services. The effect of a 10% increase in wages at the beginning of the year did not become noticeable due to inflation,” Yulia Frolova noted.
At the end of the meeting, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan Nurlan Uteshev gave a positive assessment of the work of trade unions of Zhambyl region.
“Within the framework of social partnership, the support of branch trade unions and primary trade unions from local self-government bodies has been strengthened. It should be noted that the trade union is a complex institution with a long history. It is necessary to increase the level of trade union coverage at the enterprises of the region,” Nurlan Uteshev said.
The Deputy Chairman of the FTURK recalled that the Federation of Trade Unions declared 2022 the Year of Social Partnership and spoke about the measures taken by the FTURK in this direction.
In particular, a package of new proposals has been developed for the Republican Trilateral Commission.
“One of the important initiatives is labor consultations. This menra is aimed at preventing and resolving labor disputes. It all starts with the mutual trust of the employer, the employee and the union. That is, the trade union and the employer should establish an open, trusting dialogue. Then social and labor relations will be directed in a constructive direction,” Nurlan Uteshev stressed.
He called on the professional leaders to actively work in protecting the labor rights and interests of workers in the region.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan