In 2023, the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan began chairing the Council of Trade Unions of Central Asian countries. About the main activities of the SPECA this year in the release of the FTURK Media Center.
The Council of Trade Unions of Central Asian Countries is a unique integration structure created on the joint initiative of the National Trade Union Centers of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in November 2021.
Recall that on November 10, 2021, in the capital of Uzbekistan – Tashkent, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan Kudratilla Rafikov and Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Tajikistan Maliksho Nematzoda signed a Protocol on the establishment of the Council of Trade Unions of Central Asia (SPECA).
The purpose of the Council is to consolidate the actions of the members of the SPECA to protect the socio–labor, professional, economic and other legal rights and interests of employees, as well as the rights and guarantees of the activities of trade unions.
Since the establishment of the Council, its participants have held a number of joint events aimed at further integration of national professional centers in developing common approaches to improving social and labor relations in the SPECA member countries, the development of cultural, sports and recreational cooperation, and the geography of the structure has expanded.
In 2022, three international conferences (Astana, Almaty, Dushanbe) and the First Mini-Football Cup of Trade Union teams of national Professional centers of the SPECA countries (Tashkent) were held with the participation of SPECA members.
At the II meeting of the members of the Council of Trade Unions of the Central Asian countries – leaders of the national trade union centers of the participating countries in Tashkent (September 21-23, 2022), it was decided to include new members in the organization – the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Mongolia, according to their previously sent applications, as well as by unanimous decision of the members of the Council, the Kazakh Secretary General of the organization was elected Professional leader – Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin.
According to the Chairman of the FTURK, Satybalda Dauletalin, the creation of the Council of Trade Unions of Central Asian countries will strengthen the solidarity of more than 15 million workers in the Central Asian region in striving for decent work standards and fair wages for it, solving labor migration issues, common problems of ensuring safety and labor protection. The elected Secretary General of SPECA made a number of proposals for the development and expansion of the Council’s activities.
Further strengthening of cooperation of the SPECA member countries with international institutions – the International Labor Organization and the International Trade Union Confederation on the implementation of the New Social Contract adopted at the V Congress of the ITUC in Melbourne (Australia) in November 2022 is one of the main priorities in the activities of the SPECA.
A sub-regional Trade Union Forum of Central Asian countries is planned to be held annually, where common approaches on topical issues of trade union activity will be discussed and developed. The members of the SPECA will present a common position on the most relevant international topics of trade union activity, demonstrating to the world trade union community the consistency of approaches of national trade union centers. The first forum with the participation of representatives of the ILO and the ITUC is planned to be held in Kazakhstan in 2023. Within the framework of the SPECA, the First Youth Forum is also scheduled to be held, at which it is planned to address the problems of working youth in Central Asia.
Also this year, a unified educational hub will be further developed on the basis of the Trade Union Academy of Labor under the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan, where representatives of National Trade Union centers-members of the SPECA had the opportunity to exchange best practices of trade union activity on a permanent basis.
In addition, the Secretary General of the SPECA proposed to develop a unified Map of trade union health improvement and tourism to provide health and wellness services to trade union members in trade union sanatoriums of the member countries of the Council. A new information and communication resource of SPECA will also appear.
Recall that the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the largest public organization in the country professionally engaged in protecting the rights and interests of workers. The FTURK consists of 23 sectoral, 17 territorial trade union associations and more than 16,000 primary trade union organizations, the total number of trade union members is about 1,700,000 people. The Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a full member of the International Trade Union Confederation, which unites 176 million people from 163 countries.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan