As part of the campaign “How do you live, primary?”, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tinikeev met with the labor collective of the primary trade union organization of the NGO “Local Professional Union of Railway Workers of the Petropavlovsk branch of the road”.
Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Trade Union Center of North Kazakhstan Yerik Nurakayev noted that the action initiated by the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan contributes to the identification and resolution of problematic issues.
“A lively dialogue, as the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin noted, strengthens communication with labor collectives, promotes the position of trade unions on the development of the principles of unity, ownership and justice and active participation in the stabilization of labor relations and in general in our country,” Yerik Nurakayev stressed.
The main objectives of the branch are timely and high-quality provision of railway transportation and related works and services, transportation of passengers, cargo and luggage by public railway transport, including for state needs, military and special railway transportation.
“The established relations contribute to the joint effective work of social partners – the administration and the trade union committee,” said Erik Nurakayev.
The presentation of the work of the trade union organization of railway workers of the Petropavlovsk branch of the road was held by the chairman of the trade union organization Andrey Arkhipov. He noted that the local trade union of railway workers of the Petropavlovsk branch of the road includes 13 primary trade union organizations with 4,996 union members, of which 794 are non-working pensioners.
According to him, 100 percent of the company’s employees are members of a trade union. There is a collective agreement between the management and the primary trade union organization for 2020-2022, the content of which includes a wide range of additional benefits and guarantees: the provision of an annual basic paid leave of 28 calendar days, 14 calendar days for drivers and assistants of drivers of electric locomotives, diesel locomotives, steam locomotives, electric trains, diesel trains and other guarantees. In 2021, the salary in the Company of JSC “Russian Railways” was indexed three times – on March 1 – by 1.3%, on August 1 by 2.4% and on October 1 by 1.4%, which in general amounted to 5.1%. And already this year, the wages of employees have been indexed twice from March 1 – by 4.2% and from May 1 – by 5%.
The average salary for 12 months of 2021 amounted to 288,405 tenge for core activities, 296,038 tenge for transportation activities, which is the main factor in ensuring social stability in labor collectives.
Andrey Arkhipov also highlighted the work on conducting public control in the field of safety and labor protection through technical inspectors, of whom there are 82 people in the organization. It was noted about measures to hold cultural and sports events and to improve the health of employees.
Vladimir Botyaev, Chairman of the primary trade union organization, familiarized with the work of the primary trade union organization of the Petropavlovsk railway station. He said that during the overhaul of the station station, all proposals to improve conditions for passengers and employees of the station were taken into account.
Elena Slinkova, the chairman of the trade union committee, informed about the work of the primary trade union organization of the Petropavlovsk distance of civil structures, water supply and sanitation. According to her, an important social issue to be solved is the rehabilitation of railway workers and their family members, including in the sanatorium-dispensary “Transsib”. In 2021, 1503 trade union members improved their health, as well as 189 children in the summer.
Summing up the meeting, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tinikeev reported on the activities of the Federation of Trade Unions.
He noted that the issues of remuneration, lowering the retirement age, limiting the guilt of employees in accidents related to the performance of work duties, which were raised during the meeting, are always relevant for the Federation of Trade Unions and are the subject of discussion in the Majilis of the Parliament, at meetings of the Republican Tripartite Commission on Social Partnership and working groups of the Ministry of Labor.
As the first deputy chairman of the FTURK stressed, the low level of wages in the country is one of the main causes of labor conflicts.
As an example, he cited labor conflicts, of which 74 occurred in the country last year, and only 31 of them had trade union organizations. Despite this, according to him, trade unions participated in all negotiation processes.”
He also recalled the significant results in the development of social partnership.
“In March last year, a General agreement was signed between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, republican associations of workers and employers. The draft agreement was jointly developed by three republican unions for the first time. For the first time, this important document on the part of employees was signed by three Republican public associations, which, by joining forces, tried to make proposals to the country’s labor collectives,” Mukhtar Tinikeev said.
The First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK focused special attention on the initiatives of the Federation of Trade Unions to strengthen and develop international cooperation.
During the exchange of views, Deputy Chairman of the NGO “Kazakhstan Branch Professional Union of Railway, Automobile, Air and Water Transport Workers” Zhuparbek Sabitov, noted the need for legislative removal of the climate coefficient from the general wage rate and additional payments separately.
Among the problematic issues, a proposal was made to reduce the retirement age for employees with harmful working conditions, and also proposed to provide social security for employees released due to non-compliance with the state of health of workers.
At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Trade Union Center of North Kazakhstan Yerik Nurakayev thanked all the participants of the meeting and wished success in the further implementation of trade union tasks to improve the welfare of workers in the current year, which was declared the Year of Social Partnership by the Federation.