Translated material
Trade union mustard plaster
Russian state employees held an all-Russian protest
Yesterday, trade unions in public sectors of the economy held an all-Russian protest, demanding improved working conditions and an increase in wages by 50% in 2005 and by the same amount in 2006. The day before, the chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), Mikhail Shmakov, said that “the action will take place in all regions of Russia, about 2 million people will take part in it.” The trade unions, he said, decided that all “the decisions taken by the government to improve working conditions and raise wages do not solve the problem.” And the mass action of workers, according to Mr. Shmakov, “is a good mustard plaster for violators of the rules of the game.”In Vladivostok, more than two thousand Primorye teachers, who came from all cities and districts of Primorye, took to the streets to protest for a “Decent Life”. Teachers demanded a decent salary, respect for the teacher’s work and additional payments. Teachers claim that their salaries, instead of increasing by 11% in accordance with government decisions from September 1, 2005, have decreased. Shortly before the protest, the department of education and science of the regional administration stated that “this unfortunate misunderstanding” occurred due to the fact that in September old methods of calculating wages were used. But now municipalities have received letters with new recommendations, as well as additional subventions to pay teachers’ salaries, and now “everything will be fine.” However, the trade union leaders did not take the officials at their word and did not cancel the protest action.
In Krasnoyarsk, the ardor of the participants in the all-Russian protest action was somewhat cooled by wet snow and cold wind. About a thousand people took part in the rally - mostly activists from trade union organizations of teachers, doctors and cultural workers. However, as the chairman of the regional teachers' union Lyubov Kosoryntseva reported, every second teacher took part in the protest. At the same time, Krasnoyarsk state employees chose a rather comfortable form of participation - more than 30 thousand people signed the rally resolution. The main demand of the trade unions to the administration of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the federal authorities is to increase wages by 50% in 2005 and by another 50% in 2006.
Deputy Governor of the region Vladimir Shishmarev, who came out to the protesters, recalled that this year state employees' salaries have already been increased by 31%, and in 2006 “the increase in wages for some categories of workers will be 50% or even higher.” However, the leaders of Krasnoyarsk trade unions were not convinced by his speech, and they continued to insist on the need to increase wages by another 19% in 2005 and by 50% the following year. If the demands of state employees are not met, then, according to Ms. Kosoryntseva, they may go on strike in the spring of 2006.
In the Ural Federal District, a large-scale protest of state employees took place only in two regions: Kurgan and Chelyabinsk. In Kurgan, hundreds of teachers organized a picket of the regional administration of Trans-Urals and began to demand a meeting with Governor Oleg Bogomolov. Among the demands put forward by the protesters was an increase in wages by one and a half times and provision of benefits for rural public sector employees. The governor supported the legitimate demands of state employees, while admitting that the region does not have enough money to implement all the slogans. However, this did not particularly anger the teachers - the leader of the Kurgan trade unions, Vladimir Andreichenko, after the meeting announced that his activists were satisfied with the conversation with the governor, since Oleg Bogomolov promised to transfer all demands to the federal center.
Also, the protest in Chelyabinsk ended without conflict. One and a half thousand South Ural state employees demanded higher wages. Most of all, Chelyabinsk residents were outraged by the fact that wages in the Chelyabinsk region depend not only on work experience, education and workload, but also on the teacher’s place of work. As a result, the lowest salary for teachers is in the Nagaibak region (2,700 rubles), the highest in Magnitogorsk and Chelyabinsk (about 6 thousand rubles). First Vice-Governor Andrei Kosilov undertook to calm down the protesters in the Southern Urals, promising to increase salaries to 10-12 thousand rubles. and the introduction of a system of additional payments for classroom management. The region will receive approximately 700 million rubles from the federal budget for these purposes.
In Gorno-Altaisk (Altai Republic), about 2 thousand people took part in a rally of cultural, educational and healthcare workers, held under the slogan “A European salary for a Russian teacher.” The Altai meeting became the most representative, since it was attended not only by doctors and teachers, but also by members of the government of the republic, led by Governor Mikhail Lapshin. Trade unions are demanding an increase in wages by 50% already in 2005, and by one and a half times in 2006. After representatives of teachers, doctors and librarians complained about their difficult lives, the head of the region took the floor, who already had a recipe for a way out of the current situation. Mr. Lapshin said that “gentlemen liberals from the Russian government are lying, claiming that raising wages will cause inflation. Is it acceptable that the salary of Russian public sector employees is 80-100 dollars, while we sell a barrel of oil for 50? It is necessary print the stabilization fund."