30 September, 2010Participants of the IMF Sub-Regional Committee meeting for CIS countries took a firm stand against precarious work and trade union rights violations. The region still suffers from the devastating effects of the economic crisis; however the unions struggle for a sustainable future for workers.
UKRAINE: Union leaders from CIS countries met at the IMF Sub-Regional Committee meeting on September 29-30 to discuss the current state of union movement in the region.
IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina opened the meeting by highlighting the most important points of IMF's strategic agenda: trade union networks and organizing in TNCs, building stronger unions, improving union communications and defending trade union rights.
Union leaders discussed the economic situation in their respective countries with special focus on precarious work. Most of the countries in the region were hit hard by the crisis, with production slashed by up to 80 per cent. As usual, the employers tried to use the crisis as a pretext for weakening employment guarantees, however due to the consistent efforts on the part of national unions, some of the effects of the crisis were reduced.
Precarious work emerges as a serious issue in such countries as Moldova, in Russia it becomes more widespread and in Belarus it is used - in a form of temporary one-year contracts - to undermine trade union rights and persecute union activists.
Another point of the agenda was the project of establishing a new global union federation uniting industrial workers of the world on the basis of IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF. Union leaders identified a number of challenges; however the overall commitment to the project was high.
Participants of the meeting also discussed communications and climate change, organizing and trade union rights. Situation with union rights in the region is especially grave, with two separate complaints filed to the ILO (on the rights abuses in Belarus and Russia). This topic led to a lively debate.
There was a general consensus on the importance of organizing. More and more unions in the region plan to or actually establish mobile teams of organizers to improve unionization in the metalworking sector and support new union locals.
CIS unions showed true unity in approving a joint letter of protest to the management of Kumtor, Canadian-based TNC with an operation in Kyrgyzstan where workers plan to go on an indefinite strike for better wages.