As part of a working trip to the West Kazakhstan region, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin met with Akim of the region Gali Iskaliev. The social partners discussed the measures taken in the region to develop social and labor relations.
A more substantive conversation took place at a meeting of the Regional Tripartite Commission on Social Partnership and regulation of social and Labor Relations chaired by the Head of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybalda Dauletalin and the first Deputy Akim of the West Kazakhstan region Arman Utegulov.
The main topic of discussion of social partners was the indicators of joint work of local executive bodies, trade unions and employers on the implementation of the Regional Agreement on Social Partnership and the development of social and labor Relations in general.
According to the head of the State Labor Inspectorate of the Akimat of the West Kazakhstan region Asylulan Doszhanov, since the beginning of the year, 77 enterprises have been inspected, 149 violations have been revealed, most of which relate to social and labor relations. 76 regulations were issued against employers, and fines were imposed on 32 enterprises.
The representative of the akimat called the absence of labor conflicts at the enterprises of the region a positive example of joint actions with trade unions.
Meanwhile, there are 10 branch trade unions and 14 local ones in the West Kazakhstan region, which include more than a thousand primary trade union organizations with a total of 72 thousand trade union members. In 9 months of 2022, 10 new trade union organizations were created, more than 1,700 people became members of trade unions
According to the chairman of the Territorial Association of Trade Unions of the West Kazakhstan region Aigul Esekenova, one of the main achievements of the social partners was the introduction of norms in the Regional Agreement on the indexation of wages of employees of enterprises of the region for the inflation rate and measures to financially stimulate technical inspectors of enterprises.
However, according to the statistics of the Trade Union Center, 64 accidents occurred at the enterprises of the region this year, in which 47 people were injured, 12 of whom died.
In this regard, the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin recommended that the parties to the social partnership strengthen measures to prevent occupational injuries by implementing the “People’s Control” program, joining the “VizionZero” standards and using the domestic digital platform for ensuring occupational safety “ASPANS”.
During the meeting, one of the members of the regional tripartite commission on the part of employers, Director of the Ural plant “Zenit” Vyacheslav Valiev expressed gratitude to the Chairman of the FTURK.
“Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank Satybaldy Dauletalin and the Federation of Trade Unions for their help in resolving the conflict with the branch trade union of machine Builders. On August 10, at the Federation site, we came to a peace agreement,” Vyacheslav Valiev said and told about the work of social partners on the draft of a new industry agreement.
Meanwhile, Satybaldy Dauletalin, addressing the members of the Regional Trilateral Commission, stressed the need to analyze the content of collective agreements concluded at those enterprises where there are no trade unions.
“Where collective agreements are signed by trade unions, the requests of employees are taken into account, they are provided with certain social guarantees. Collective agreements concluded without the participation of trade unions are declarative in nature and do not affect the solution of the social and labor needs of employees in any way. I recommend at the meetings of the trilateral commission to consider the content of collective agreements of such enterprises with the participation of employers themselves,” the Chairman of the FTURK said.
Continuing the topic of creating favorable conditions for workers, Satybaldy Dauletalin spoke about the main initiatives of the Federation of Trade Unions.
“First of all, the Federation of Trade Unions has made a proposal to revise the mechanisms for determining the wage system. According to Article 107 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, an employee’s salary is established by an employment contract in accordance with the employer’s current wage system, which is determined by the terms of labor, collective agreements and acts of the employer. In order to create mechanisms for the influence of employees on decisions made by the employer regarding remuneration, we proposed to make additions to the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, providing for the publication of acts of the employer defining the remuneration system, taking into account the views of employees’ representatives,” the Chairman of the FTURK said.
He also stressed that the Federation of Trade Unions over the past few years has stated the need to adopt a methodology for forming the minimum wage and this initiative was supported by the Head of State in his Address to the people of Kazakhstan.
“The promotion of social justice is one of the main tasks of trade unions and it is consonant with the course of the President of the country to build a Fair Kazakhstan. Our social partners should understand that trade unions are not opponents, but partners. Trade unions have never been and will never be a source of social tension,” the Chairman of the FTURK stressed.
Concluding the meeting of the Regional Trilateral Commission on Social Partnership and Regulation of Social and Labor Relations, First Deputy Akim of the West Kazakhstan region Arman Utegulov assured that all the recommendations voiced by the Chairman of the FTURK will be taken into account.
“All the issues raised today will be considered at the next meetings of the Regional Trilateral Commission. The social partners of the West Kazakhstan region understand that trade unions are the main partners in the development of social and labor relations,” Arman Utegulov concluded.
The working trip of the FTURK delegation to the West Kazakhstan region continues, negotiations with social partners and meetings with trade union activists of the region are planned.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan