On Wednesday, 12 July, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tinikeev took part in the V Congress of the Kazakhstan Branch Trade Union of Oil and Gas Complex.
Speaking before the participants of the Congress, Mukhtar Tinikeyev conveyed warm words of greetings on behalf of the Chairman of the FTURK Satybaldy Dauletalin, and noted that this year marks 124 years of the oil industry of Kazakhstan – it is still the flagship of the economy of the state and focused the attention of colleagues on the main activities of trade unions in the oil industry.
“In 2023, the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan and its affiliated organisations will spend the year 2023 under the aegis of the Year of Safe Labour. Issues of ensuring safe working conditions are topical in the oil and gas sector. Every year Kazakhstan continues to increase the volume of hydrocarbon production, and the issue of ensuring the safety of oil operations is becoming increasingly important,” said Mukhtar Tinikeyev.
According to the FTURK, at the end of last year, several dozen people were injured in accidents in the oil and gas industry, and 10 people died. Meanwhile, the Federation of Trade Unions calls on social partners to promote and implement the most advanced technologies and programmes to ensure occupational safety – the ASPANS digital programme, the People’s Control social project, and the VisionZero-Zero Zero Injuries international concept.
As noted by the First Deputy Chairman of the FTURK, no less important for trade unions is the issue of remuneration of labour in the industry.
“Taking into account the persisting disparity in wages of Kazakhstani and foreign workers at certain enterprises, the sectoral trade union and the Federation of Trade Unions have repeatedly appealed to the social partners in the government and in the relevant ministry. It should be noted that the initiatives of the FTURK have not gone unnoticed by the country’s leadership. Last year, on the instructions of the President of the country, the government adopted a programme to increase the income of the population until 2025, which took into account the proposal of the Federation of Trade Unions to eliminate imbalances in labour income”, – said Mukhtar Tinikeyev.
In addition, he said, the Federation of Trade Unions has made a number of specific proposals to amend labour legislation on wages. They concern the consistent increase of the minimum wage, the legislative enshrinement of the employer’s obligation to index workers’ wages to inflation.
“All our proposals concerning the labour remuneration system, annual indexation of wages, development of a methodology for the formation of the minimum wage, as well as revision of the retirement age for people employed in harmful and hazardous working conditions have been accepted by the social partners. I believe that the ratification of ILO Convention No. 131 on minimum wages should be a priority for the government. For our part, we will continue to strive for their favourable solution,” the First Deputy Chairman of FTURK told the participants of the congress.
Speaking about the development of the trade union community as a whole, the First Deputy Chairman of FTURK stressed that special attention is paid by the Federation and its affiliates to further strengthening of the trade union movement in the country, strengthening the role of trade unions in society, expanding the ranks of trade unions, working with trade union cadres, improving their qualifications.
He emphasised that all the experience gained in protecting the rights of ordinary trade union members could not be imagined without the participation of trade union leaders and activists in the oil and gas sector and thanked trade union leaders for their loyalty to trade union priorities.
“The labour of an oil worker is not an easy one. Each of you contributes to the development of the industry and, in general, the economy of the entire state. The Federation of Trade Unions, representing two million workers in various industries, lives with the difficult problems and tasks of oil workers in particular, and does everything in their power to ensure that the outcome of transformations and reforms is an increase in the well-being of all members of our trade unions. Kazakhstan branch trade union of oil and gas complex is a part of our big trade union family!”, – Mukhtar Tinikeev emphasised.
Continuing the work of the Congress, the chairman of the Kazakhstan branch trade union of oil and gas complex Sultan Kaliyev spoke about the activities of the trade union.
“Being a member organisation of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the branch trade union of oil and gas complex is an integral part of the trade union movement of the country and contributes to the achievement of its main goal – the protection of rights and interests of workers in the oil and gas sector. An important role in this is played by raising the legal awareness of our colleagues. An educational programme to improve the skills and competencies of trade union leaders and activists is conducted on a periodic basis. During the reporting period, about 350 trade union leaders were trained, 62 of whom were chairmen of primary and local trade union organisations. Together with the FPPC training centre this work will be continued,” said Sultan Kaliyev.
Today the Kazakhstan branch trade union of oil and gas complex includes local trade union organisations of 39 enterprises of the industry, with a total number of more than 33 thousand members.
Participants of the V Congress of the trade union approved reports on the activities of the trade union, and elected a new set of governing bodies.
By unanimous decision of the Congress delegates re-elected Sultan Kaliyev as Chairman of the Kazakhstan Branch Trade Union of Oil and Gas Complex.