SATYBALDY DAULETALIN: “THE HIGHER THE LEGAL AWARENESS OF PEOPLE, THE MORE EFFECTIVELY LABOR CONFLICTS ARE RESOLVED”

During a working trip to Zhambyl region, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin held a meeting with trade union activists of the region – chairmen of branches of branch, local and primary trade union organizations.

Summing up the results of the work of the Trade Union Center of Zhambyl region for 2021, its chairman Baglan Karasholakov said that in 2021 56 primary trade union organizations with a total of 2,499 members were created in Zhambyl region. According to the Trade Union Center, there are branches of 15 branch trade unions in the Zhambyl region, including 1,358 primary trade union organizations with a population of 123,011 people. In general, according to the results of the last five years (from 2016 to 2021), there has been a positive trend in trade union membership, the number of trade union members has increased by more than 7 thousand people.

Zhambyl trade activists told about the relationship with social partners on the ground. For example, the chairman of the branch of the branch trade union of agricultural workers Bazantai Daniyarov said that in recent years, thanks to the explanatory work of trade activists, the number of primary trade union organizations in the industry has increased from 8 to 62.

In turn, the chairman of the regional branch of the branch trade union of culture, sports and information workers Duysenali Bykybayev voiced the problems of improving the health of trade union members and low wages of certain categories of cultural workers.

Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin noted that such meetings are held in every region during the visits of the leadership of the FTURK.

“It is important for us to keep abreast of the pulse, to understand how the “primary” live, what problems they face, what kind of help they need. On the basis of proposals from the regions, the Federation promotes at the republican level the solution of specific topical problems on the ground, and ultimately helps to solve the problems of employees of thousands of Kazakhstani enterprises,” the Head of the FTURK said.

Speaking about the role of trade union organizations in the development of social and labor relations in the country, Satybaldy Dauletalin stressed that today the protection of labor rights of workers in the workplace is carried out primarily by primary trade union organizations.

“You, trade union leaders, must learn how to conduct collective bargaining competently, within the legal framework, be interested and responsible for creating favorable working conditions for ordinary trade union members. Practice shows that in those enterprises where trade unions operate, the interests and rights of employees are respected, and labor disputes are resolved quickly and not to the detriment of both sides of the social partnership,” the Chairman of the FTURK noted.

In this regard, according to Satybalda Dauletalin, the Federation of Trade Unions initiated widespread labor consultations.

“What is labor consultation? At a meeting in the Government in February of this year, the Federation of Trade Unions announced its proposal to hold an action “Labor consultations”, which was reflected in the protocol instructions. We are talking about bilateral joint consultations and information exchange. On the one hand, the employer transmits information related to production management to trade unions, on the other – receives information from trade unions related to working conditions. The system of joint consultations helps to reduce labor conflicts, exclude protracted confrontation between the parties,” the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan said.

He also informed his Zhambyl colleagues about the package of proposals prepared by the FTURK for the Government of the country, in particular, they relate to measures to toughen penalties against employers who have wage arrears to employees, 100 percent payment of sick leave, mandatory annual wage indexation and others.

“We consider it necessary to ensure the participation of trade unions in the management of production, including salary negotiations on a mandatory basis, strengthening state control and supervision over compliance with labor legislation and simplifying the procedure for making claims of employees in the event of a collective labor dispute,” stressed Satybaldy Dauletalin.

According to the Chairman of the FTURK, in order to achieve harmonious relations between the employer and employee representatives, it is important for both of them to constantly improve legal awareness. For its part, the Federation of Trade Unions on an ongoing basis conducts training seminars and trainings for trade union members, and since April for employers.

“Raising the legal awareness of social partners plays a key role in the possible occurrence of controversial issues at the enterprise. The higher the legal awareness of people, the more effectively, on a legal basis, even the most difficult labor conflicts are resolved,” stressed Satybaldy Dauletalin.

As part of the working trip, Satybalda Dauletalin also met with members of trade unions – representatives of the pedagogical community of Zhambyl region.

According to their structure, the trade unions of education and science workers are the most numerous, they include 67,271 Zhambyl teachers from 801 educational institutions.

Speaking about the activities of trade union organizations in the education system, Chairman of the branch of the republican branch trade Union of Education and Science Workers Yerulan Magzimbekov said that an independent training center has been organized in the region, in which more than two thousand members of pedagogical trade unions are trained in the application of labor and trade union legislation every year. The branch of the branch trade union has a legal inspection, consultations and legal assistance are provided by 14 specialists. With the support of legal inspectors, legal assistance has been provided to more than ten thousand applicants.

“The Branch Trade Union of Education and Science is the largest member organization of the FTURK.  As part of the largest public organization in Kazakhstan – the Federation of Trade Unions, you are defenders of the rights and interests of thousands of teachers. In general, trade unions are a key part of civil society, the development of which largely depends on the values that we contribute. Our task today is to increase the potential of workers, create decent working and living conditions for every working person,” said Satybaldy Dauletalin.The Chairman of the FTURK thanked the members of the trade unions of education for their contribution to the development of the trade union movement of the country.