As part of the campaign “How do you live, primary?”, the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tinikeev met with the professional asset of JSC Ural Plant Zenit.
The main activity of the joint-stock company is shipbuilding. The primary trade union organization of the enterprise is part of the West Kazakhstan branch of the Industrial Trade Union of Machine Builders.
Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Trade Union Center of the West Kazakhstan region Aigul Esekenova reminded the participants of the meeting that the republican action “How do you live, primary?” was initiated by the Federation of Trade Unions in 2021 as part of the Year of the Primary Trade Union Organization.
Aigul Esekenova stressed the timeliness and effectiveness of the event in solving the urgent problems of ordinary workers.
“Such meetings help to highlight pressing social and labor problems at enterprises of all industries and regions of the country,” said the chairman of the Trade Union Center.
In her speech, she told about the long history of the plant, which dates back to 1941.
JSC Ural Plant Zenit was established on the basis of the Engine plant evacuated from Leningrad in 1941 as the Voroshilov Plant.
During the war, the plant produced special naval weapons, after its completion it was repurposed to produce other types of special equipment for the needs of the country’s Naval Forces. For services to the army and Navy during the Great Patriotic War, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
In December 1993, the plant was transformed into a joint-stock company, in 2003 JSC Ural Plant Zenit became part of JSC NC Kazakhstan Engineering.
The trade union organization of the plant was established during the war – since 1942.
From 1995 to the present, Vladimir Vladimirovich Kulikov has been the chairman of the trade union of JSC Ural Plant Zenit.
The main task of the trade union organization, as Vladimir Kulikov, Chairman of the trade union organization of JSC Ural Plant Zenit, said in turn, is to protect labor, professional and other socio-economic rights and interests of its members.
He spoke in detail about the work of the trade union organization, about the benefits and social guarantees provided.
The joint–stock company employs 790 people, of which 70% of employees are members of the trade union. The average salary at the enterprise is about 187 thousand tenge.
According to him, the company has established a constructive social dialogue with the employer.
Vladimir Kulikov emphasized that in 2021 the total amount of the employer’s expenses for additional compensation and payments in excess of the payments provided for by law amounted to more than 53 million tenge
In addition, the employer’s expenses directed to the trade union committee for social support of the plant’s employees amounted to KZT 10.5 million.
According to the chairman of the trade union committee, this year, due to the expiration of the collective agreement, work is to be done on the draft of a new collective agreement for 2022-2024.
“The company regularly participates in international competitions, employees are trained on the issues of social and labor legislation of the country,” Vladimir Kulikov added.
As Alexey Solodovnikov, the First Deputy General Director of Zenit JSC, engineer, stressed during the meeting, all the requirements of the collective agreement are fulfilled in full by the administration. The employer and the trade union committee work together to improve working conditions.
Having familiarized with the work of the primary trade union organization, the First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK Mukhtar Tinikeev noted the high level of social responsibility of the employer.
“It is very gratifying that at such a large enterprise special attention is paid to the interests of employees. There is a good collective agreement. This is an indicator that the employer’s priority is the social well–being of employees,” Mukhtar Tinikeev stressed.
The First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK told the participants about the initiatives of the Federation of Trade Unions to improve social and labor relations, increase the level of social protection of citizens and other topical issues of the trade union agenda.
“The Federation of Trade Unions is actively raising the issue of raising the minimum wage. The increase in the minimum wage from 42,500 to 60,000 tenge from January 1, 2022 is progress, but there is no methodology for calculating the minimum wage in our country. We believe that this issue should be approached based on the recommendations of the International Labour Organization. There is a Keitz Index, approved by the ILO, which says that the minimum wage should be 50% of the average wage. If the average salary in Kazakhstan is 270 thousand. the minimum wage should be about 135 thousand tenge. Our minimum wage is 20% of the average salary,” said the First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK.
In this regard, the Federation of Trade Unions supports the ratification of ILO Convention No. 131 “On the Establishment of Minimum Wages with Special consideration for Developing Countries”.
At the same time, according to him, the Federation of Trade Unions at the republican level appealed to social partners with specific proposals for the legislative consolidation of the annual indexation of wages, simplification of the procedure for the nomination of workers’ claims in labor disputes, etc.
As Mukhtar Tinikeev emphasized, low wages at enterprises are one of the main causes of labor conflicts and employee dissatisfaction.
In this context, the importance of increasing the effectiveness of social partnership was noted.
As part of the Year of Social Partnership, he stressed the need to build a constructive dialogue with employers and strengthen the role of trade unions in protecting workers’ rights.
“As you know, on March 12, 2021, a General agreement was signed between the Government, Republican Associations of Employers and Republican Associations of Trade Unions for 2021-2023. For the first time, all 3 republican associations of trade unions participated in the development of the norms of the General Agreement. Today we stand united for the rights and interests of the Working Man. We managed to include in the new General Agreement norms for improving the remuneration system and other important norms aimed at creating favorable and safe working conditions for employees. The Federation has achieved the direct participation of regional akims in meetings of tripartite commissions in most regions of the country. This work will continue,” Mukhtar Tinikeev added.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan