On July 26-27, in the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a training seminar was held for the trade union activists of the Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union, dedicated to studying the issues of recent changes in the labor legislation of the country.
Mukhtar Tinikeev, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech, emphasizing the high importance of trade union training in protecting the rights and interests of trade union members.
At the same time, Mukhtar Tinikeev focused the attention of the meeting participants on the main priorities of the work of the Federation of Trade Unions, including new steps to develop international cooperation and implement a number of initiatives in support of workers.
Speaking about the achievements of the Federation in the international trade union movement, he recalled the restoration in November last year of the membership of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the International Confederation of Trade Unions.
“The ITUC is the world’s largest trade union organization with 176 million members from 161 countries. In 2018, the membership of the Federation of Trade Unions in the ITUC was suspended. This was largely due to the lack of power in the issue of registration of independent trade unions. Democratic transformations in the activities of the Federation of Trade Unions that have taken place in recent years have made it possible to reconsider the attitude of the international trade union community towards the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” Mukhtar Tinikeev emphasized.
Along with this, a special place in the work of the Federation of Trade Unions is occupied by the development of international relations in the Central Asian region. The First Deputy Chairman of the FPRK spoke about the work of the Council of Trade Unions of the Central Asian countries, established in November 2021 at the initiative of the national trade union centers of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
“This year, by the unanimous decision of the SPECA members, the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Satybaldy Dauletalin, was elected the Secretary General of this organization,” emphasized the First Deputy Chairman of the FPRK.
As noted by the First Deputy Chairman of the FPRK, the issue of protecting workers within the framework of social partnership is no less important for trade unions.
“Trade unions are the only organization that reflects the true picture in labor collectives. Only trade unions deal with the problems of ordinary workers. Last year, more than 80 labor conflicts took place in the country, mainly in the western regions, the main reason for which is the low wages of workers. In 2022, the trade unions managed to influence the adoption of important decisions by the state – on behalf of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Program for Increasing the Income of the Population was adopted, the minimum wage was increased and will continue to grow, finally, a long-standing trade union initiative to develop a methodology has been launched determination of the minimum wage, including its indexation. I emphasize that the implementation of the initiative of the trade unions to increase the size of the minimum wage became a reality precisely because the President publicly and unambiguously supported the position of the trade unions,” said Mukhtar Tinikeev.
Speaking about priority tasks, he said that the Federation of Trade Unions is raising the issue of reducing the retirement age for people working in conditions of particularly harmful and especially dangerous production, has made a number of proposals to change labor legislation in terms of raising the minimum wage, legislatively fixing the obligation of the employer to index wages of employees, taking into account inflation, etc.
As for the development of the trade union community as a whole, the First Deputy Chairman of the FPRK emphasized that the Federation and its member organizations pay special attention to further strengthening 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 personnel, and improving their qualifications.
In turn, Elena Mustafina, chairman of the Kazakhneftegazprofsoyuz branch trade union, thanked the leadership of the Federation of Trade Unions for the steps taken to strengthen the country’s trade union movement, noting the new qualitative level of educational work.
“The training of trade union activists has already become traditional, and we are grateful to the Federation of Trade Unions for the special attention to the issues of raising the professional level of trade union activists. Training is a very important detail in the activities of trade unions, which is the so-called clockwork. Trade unions should always be in the process of exchanging experience and information on law enforcement issues in order to quickly respond to the challenges of our time,” Elena Mustafina emphasized.
For two days, representatives of the pool of lecturers of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan shared their theoretical knowledge and practical skills with the participants of the training seminar.
On the first day, Lyazzat Yeszhanova, Deputy Director of the Educational Projects Department of the FPRK, Coordinator of Educational Projects of the Federation, familiarized the audience with the legal framework for the activities of trade unions, and also presented instructions on the organizational work and record keeping of trade union committees.
In light of the entry into force on July 1 of this year. of the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the lecturer dwelled in detail on the changes in the direction of increasing social benefits, incl. on issues of increasing benefits for job loss, temporary disability, loss of a breadwinner, and increasing the time for child care. Along with this, she presented information on the latest amendments to the labor legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and also presented a number of important cases from the practice of applying specific standards. Lyazzat Yeszhanova called on the participants of the seminar to actively explain all the subtleties of the new legislation in labor collectives and help in solving the problems of workers.
The second day of the training seminar continued with the study of such topical issues on the trade union agenda as the development of social partnership, consideration of individual and collective labor disputes, negotiation skills, important aspects of safety and labor protection, including the investigation of accidents at work. Hanseit Bohlen, Head of the Department of the Committee on SES and SP FPRK, acquainted the participants with these topics.
According to the participants – trade union leaders of the Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union, the training was interesting and very informative. The listeners thanked the organizers and expressed the unanimous opinion that this meeting allowed them to gain a valuable store of knowledge and practical experience.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan