CHAIRMAN OF THE FTURK: “THERE ARE ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES OF COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS AT THE OIL AND GAS PRODUCING ENTERPRISES OF MANGYSTAU”

As part of the working trip of the delegation of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan headed by Chairman Satybaldy Dauletalin to the Mangistau region, meetings were held with social partners at two of the largest oil and gas producing enterprises in the region – joint stock companies Mangistaumunaigas and Karazhanbasmunai.

JSC “Karazhanbasmunai” is a joint Kazakh-Chinese enterprise, whose shares are equally owned by the National Company “Kazmunaygas” and the Chinese company China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC). The contract between the investors is calculated until 2035. The volume of oil produced by the enterprise is 90 million tons with residual reserves of 305 million tons. The company employs 4,608 people, 2,896 of whom are members of two local trade union organizations. The presence of several trade unions at large Kazakhstani enterprises is not uncommon.

During the meeting with the delegation of the FTURK, General Director of JSC “Karazhanbasmunai” Li Teqiang informed about the activities of the enterprise and elaborated on issues of the social and labor sphere, in particular relations with trade union organizations. According to him, the company’s management pays special attention to the development of social partnership.

“A year ago we signed a collective agreement, the substantive part of which was the result of periodic consultations with representatives of both trade unions. It includes 27 points agreed with the trade unions, including sanatorium rehabilitation of employees, qualification seminars and other social guarantees,” said the head of the oil and gas company.

In turn, the trade union leaders of JSC “Karazhanbasmunai” Aitbay Kuzhukhov and Kuanysh Seisenbayev reported that for four years now, at the initiative of trade unions, a commission has been operating at the enterprise, created from among the management and trade union activists.

“Once a quarter, the commission goes to the fields, meets with the labor collective, discusses pressing issues and then collectively makes decisions. So we worked on a new draft collective agreement, which in monetary terms is equal to 4 billion tenge. Now the commission also collectively monitors the results of the fulfillment of collective contractual obligations,” the trade activists said.

Thanking the social partners of JSC “Karazhanbasmunai” for their well-coordinated work, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin noted the importance of this kind of relationship between the employer and employee representatives for the entire enterprise.

“The fate of the enterprise itself depends on the openness of the employer to dialogue with employees. Here we see that the employer understands that the development and profitability of JSC “Karazhanbasmunai” is directly related to the social well–being of those people who work extracting oil,” the Chairman of the FTURK noted.

No less close relations in the field of social partnership were demonstrated by social partners at another large oil and gas producing enterprise – Mangistaumunaigas JSC, where a substantive conversation with representatives of the employer and employees also took place. 3,022 workers out of 3,886 here are members of a trade union organization.

By the way, the monetization of koldogovr at this enterprise amounted to 2.5 billion tenge per year.

According to the chairman of the trade union organization of Mangistaumunaigas JSC Madi Kentanov, since March of this year, by agreement of the social partners, the working shift of employees at the fields of the enterprise has been increased from 10 to 12 hours, which will significantly affect the amount of wages.

“Thanks to the norms laid down in the collective agreement this year, 1,100 employees managed to improve their qualifications. In addition, allowances have also been introduced for overfulfilling the norm, for example, production in excess of the norm by 25 thousand tons – an additional official salary, by 50 thousand – two salaries, by 75 thousand – three salaries,” the chairman of the trade union committee said.

Having familiarized himself with the progress of the fulfillment of collective contractual obligations at the enterprise, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin stressed that the presence of such examples of social partnership in the Mangystau region (the “leader” of last year in collective disputes) is relevant.

“The fact that there are illustrative examples of collective agreements at Mangystau oil and gas production enterprises is another proof that the negotiation process between social partners is the most effective method of improving the welfare of workers,” concluded Satybaldy Dauletalin.

As part of the working visit, the delegation of the FTURK will also visit Zhanaozen, where it will hold meetings with labor collectives.

Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan