As part of the campaign “How do you live, primary?”, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Satybaldy Dauletalin met with members of the primary trade union organization of Kazburgas JSC of the West Kazakhstan region.
The online visit was attended by Deputy Chairman of the Federation Nurlan Uteshev, Chairman of the Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union Elena Mustafina, Chairman of the Trade Union Center of the West Kazakhstan region Aigul Esekenova, management and employees of Kazburgaz JSC.
Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Trade Union Center of the West Kazakhstan region Aigul Esekenova stressed that the primary trade union organization of Kazburgaz JSC is part of the Karachaganak local trade union of employees of KPO B.V. and contracting companies.
According to Kadyr Abdulin, Chairman of the Karachaganak local trade Union of employees of KPO B.V. and contracting companies, the local trade union consists of 14 primary trade union organizations with a total of 1,390 union members.
According to him, the primary trade union organization of Kazburgaz JSC was established in 1985 from the day of the discovery of the Karachaganak field. The company employs 199 people, of whom 124 (62%) are members of a trade union.
“The three-year collective agreement has been extended until 2020 until the adoption of a new tariff. The contract provides for a number of social guarantees and benefits for employees. The primary trade union organization solves issues related to social, labor, economic rights and interests of employees on the basis of social partnership with the employer,” said Ekpin Shakenov, chairman of the primary trade union organization of employees of Kazburgaz JSC.
According to the chairman of the Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union Elena Mustafina, this is the second meeting of the FTURK management with employees of drilling companies.
“It is easier to conduct collective bargaining in large mining companies from a financial point of view. In drilling companies, this issue depends on the price. Thus, they are in a high-risk zone, which cannot be said about Kazburgas JSC. KPO intends to adopt a new collective agreement. The industry agreement, to which we have recently introduced the coefficient of the industry tariff rate of 1.3, can serve as a guideline in this regard. Contractors can agree on a number of minimum benefits.We provide practical assistance in discussing the provisions of the collective agreement. There is no reason to worry about this enterprise,” Elena Mustafina stressed.
In this regard, the chairman of the local trade union of workers “Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V.” Kadyr Abdullin proposed to extend the collective agreement only to members of the trade union.
The Chairman of the FTURK asked the operator of the boiler unit, Sirin Hismatulin, about the working conditions at the enterprise, including the amount of wages.
An employee of the company said that during the pandemic, the production process was stopped and he was forced to move to another job site, which significantly reduced his salary. If earlier he received 200-220 thousand tenge, now he receives 90-120 thousand tenge.
In turn, Vice President for Service and Infrastructure of Kazburgaz JSC Baurzhan Dyusenov confirmed that drilling was stopped during the pandemic, which negatively affected the wages of employees. Despite this, he noted that the company’s management tried to improve the situation with the help of bonuses and social benefits.
The Chairman of the FTURK highly appreciated the care of workers during the pandemic. At the same time, he stressed the importance of a fair distribution of the company’s income.
“You say that the average salary in the company is 90 thousand tenge. That’s not enough. Income is mainly distributed among top managers, and the wage fund, which belongs to employees, remains a secondary issue. In general, about 26-29% of income in the country goes to the wage fund. It’s really very small. In developed countries, the wage fund is 50-60% or even 70%. Therefore, it is necessary to strive for a fair distribution of income,” Satybaldy Dauletalin said.
Baurzhan Dyusenov noted that the company operates on the basis of standards established by the state, and asked the Federation of Trade Unions to resolve this issue within the framework of social partnership.
As stressed by Satybaldy Dauletalin, the issue of a phased increase in the minimum wage has been raised since last year, and there has already been some progress in this direction.
“As you know, the minimum wage is the minimum standard set by the state. The President’s initiative to raise the minimum wage, announced in the Address– is the result of the work of trade unions together with social partners. We consider this the first step. Now it is necessary to bring the minimum wage level in line with international standards. The minimum wage must be at least 50% of the average salary in the country. Now the average salary is about 240 thousand. Therefore, the minimum wage should be about 120 thousand tenge. Given the current financial and economic situation and the crisis, we understand that the state cannot do this now, but we will continue to work to promote this issue,” he said.
The management of the FTURK was also interested in the issue of labor protection at the enterprise.
According to Baurzhan Dyusenov, Vice President for Service and Infrastructure of Kazburgaz JSC, labor protection is one of the priorities in the company’s work.
“The last accident at the enterprise occurred about 10 years ago. Our daily meetings begin with a discussion of occupational safety and health requirements. Considerable funds are provided for these purposes, but the main value of the company is its employees,” he said.
As noted, the company has established and operates a production council for labor protection.
Satybaldy Dauletalin, in turn, stressed that the production council is one of the main tools for regulating labor protection issues at the enterprise, and recalled that the decision of the council, created on a parity basis, is mandatory.
The Chairman of the FTURK noted that 200 people die every year at work in the country, and called for special attention to this work.
Speaking about the proposal of the chairman of the local trade union regarding the collective agreement, the head of the FTURK noted that the collective agreement should apply only to members of the trade union.
“The collective agreement should apply only to those employees who participated in its conclusion. Therefore, the position of the FTURK is clear here, and we everywhere demand that the collective agreement apply only to trade union members. The use of benefits and benefits by employees who did not participate in the process of concluding a collective agreement is a social dependency,” the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions believes.
Along with this, he inquired about the presence in the collective agreement of Kazburgas JSC of the norm on wage indexation. “Analyzing collective agreements in the country, we found that the indexation is only 10%. This is very little. Therefore, I ask the employer to support the trade union in this matter. At the same time, it is necessary to determine the indexing order. Because the salary of employees who receive 90 thousand tenge should be indexed. But you have to decide whether there is a need to index the salary of the management, which today amounts to 900 thousand tenge,” the Chairman of the FTURK noted.
According to Baurzhan Dyusenov, the provisions on indexing will be included in the new agreement.
In addition, Satybaldy Dauletalin reminded that the trade union should not only improve working conditions, but also contribute to the development of the enterprise.
Summing up the meeting, the Head of the FTURK highly appreciated the work of the trade union organization, the level of development of social partnership and instructed the chairmen of the Branch Trade Union and the Trade Union Center of the West Kazakhstan Region to disseminate experience in other primary trade union organizations.
In conclusion, he spoke about the achievements of the Federation of Trade Unions in the field of international cooperation.
According to the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for the first time in history, the Federations of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have established the Council of Trade Unions of Central Asian Countries (CTUCAC).
According to him, this initiative is designed to improve the quality of life of workers.
At the same time, the Head of the FTURK reported on a number of joint projects of the Federation of Trade Unions with the International Labor Organization aimed at modernizing the activities of the Training Center and developing the Legal Clinic of the FTURK.
The chairman of the local trade union, Kadyr Abdulin, on behalf of the employees, thanked the leadership of the Federation of Trade Unions for organizing the meeting and invited Aksai oil and gas companies to visit the city.
Recall that the purpose of the action of the FTURK “How do you live, primary?– is feedback from primary organizations, receiving information from ordinary trade union members about the problems of trade union members, as well as informing about the work of the FTURK in the implementation of new projects and decisions of the Federation of Trade Unions aimed at activating the work of member organizations to protect socio-economic and labor rights of workers.
Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions