Today, on March 15, as part of the Republican campaign “How are you, primary?”, the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions RK Mukhtar Tinikeev met with the labor collective of Kostanay operational locomotive depot LLP “KTZ – Freight transportation” – “Kostanay branch of GP”.
Opening the meeting, the chairman of the Trade Union Center of Kostanay region Irina Aronova noted that in 2021, within the framework of the campaign “How do you live, primary?”, the Trade Union Center held 33 meetings with primary trade union organizations, including 4 meetings with the participation of the leadership of the Federation of Trade Unions.
Today, the trade unions of Kostanay region are 14 territorial structures of branch and local trade unions, which include 1374 primary trade union organizations with a total number of more than 100 thousand people.
As a result of the joint work of the Trade Union Center, branch and local trade unions, 31 primary trade union organizations were created in 2021, covering more than 1,200 people. New trade union organizations were created in the fields of agriculture, public service, entrepreneurship and education.
The chairman of the trade union organization Irina Aliseevich told about the activities of the trade union organization. There are 797 people working in the workshop of the locomotive farm, mostly employees of locomotive crews, all are members of the trade union.
“The work of the trade union organization, which has been done over the years, demonstrates the collective agreement, in which benefits, social package and protection of workers’ rights are improving every year,” Irina Aliseevich said.
The highest achievement of the trade union organization is that the collective agreement provides for the release of employees to the industry allowance. Machinists who have reached 57 years of age and have at least 12.5 years of experience in office receive an industry allowance of 40 MCI monthly until they reach retirement age. The allowance is paid at the expense of the company.
The meeting was continued by Asel Abisheva, a member of the Youth Council of the primary trade union organization of the KTZ – Cargo Transportation LLP branch, who spoke about youth policy and trade union projects aimed at developing human resources and the youth trade union movement.
In turn, the chairman of the Kostanay branch of the branch trade union of railway transport workers, Gafu Nesipbayev, informed that the regional trade union includes 13 primary trade union organizations that unite 4413 trade union members. Collective agreements between JSC “NC “KTZ” and trade unions are among the best in the Republic.
According to the deputy chairman of the NGO “Kazakhstan Branch Professional Union of Railway, Automobile, Air and Water Transport workers” Bakhytzhan Kuanyshev, the priority areas remain wage increases, creation of favorable working conditions at workplaces, provision of workwear and means for safe working conditions.
“We have achieved that when accepting workwear on the ground, it is mandatory for a trade union representative to participate in the commission,” the speaker noted.
The chairman of the shop trade union committee Irina Aliseevich raised a problematic issue regarding the supply of uniforms. According to her, employees have not received uniforms since 2018. As a result, they are forced to buy it at their own expense. It is not uncommon for a batch of overalls to be returned back because the dimensions were too large.
Answering the question, Deputy Chairman of the NGO “Kazakhstan Branch Trade Union Bakhytzhan Kuanyshev, said that this issue is being worked out at the sectoral level.
Following the meeting, the first deputy of the Federation of Trade Unions Mukhtar Tinikeev spoke about the main activities of the FTURK to protect the social and labor rights and interests of workers.
The First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK announced specific proposals of the Federation of Trade Unions to improve the social well-being of a Person at work, which were submitted to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
According to him, the main cause of labor disputes is the low level of wages.
“Last year there were 74 labor conflicts in the country. At the same time, only 31 of them had trade union organizations. Despite this, trade unions participated in all negotiation processes,” Mukhtar Tinikeev said.
As noted, trade unions at all sites of social partnership declared the need to raise the minimum wage.
“There is a Keitz index approved by the ILO. This index indicates that the minimum wage should be 50% of the average salary. We are talking about the need to introduce a mechanism for calculating the minimum wage,” the First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK stressed.
Mukhtar Tinikeev also emphasized the development of social partnership.
“Today, at the initiative of trade unions, the tripartite commissions in most regions of the country are headed directly by the akims of the regions,” said the First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK.
Mukhtar Tinikeev also spoke about initiatives to secure the right of trade unions to hold strikes, the establishment of administrative responsibility of employers for violating the requirements of labor legislation on the creation of a conciliation commission and other equally important proposals of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan