Representatives of the Government, labour unions, and republican associations of employers have gathered to discuss topical issues of employment, salaries and preserving social guarantees. At the end of last year, the general agreement for 2016-2018 was signed, setting out the obligations of the state. Now, a council session has been called to negotiate this important document.
Trade unions fear that enterprises may ‘overlook’ their сcommitments to workers, and their duty to preserve social guarantees. In particular, the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus notes that some employers are trying to save on administration costs, at the expense of workers. The Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions, Mikhail Orda, believes firmly that this is inadmissible.
Trade unions have proposed an interesting initiative, aiming to solve current problems by setting up insurance against unemployment. Mr. Orda is eager to draw from global experience, since some countries operate this as their norm: where an enterprise faces difficulties and cannot afford to pay salaries, a state fund steps in to protect jobs. The Federation of Trade Unions suggests that employers pay into an insurance fund for this purpose.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Vladimir Semashko, holding back inflation is vital; no more than 12 percent is expected this year. Mr. Semashko comments, “The country has a well-developed exchange rate formation mechanism, and our absence of exchange rate differences is allowing our export-focused enterprises to supply Russia and other countries with healthy profit. GDP is slowly growing, as is the level of industrial production. There is confidence that we’ll emerge from recession by the end of the year. If the economy grows, all other social problems will be solved.”
By Alexander Benkovsky
