Translated material
Short day group
Trade unions made concessions to employers
The number of potential applicants, if not for dismissal, then for leaving work of their own free will, may increase in the near future. Yesterday, the Russian tripartite commission for regulating social and labor relations approved recommendations for employers and trade unions, de jure allowing enterprise managers to change work schedules. As Vremya Novostei was told by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, workers' advocates were forced to make concessions to employers' representatives in order to prevent mass layoffs. In the current situation on the labor market, according to FNPR Secretary Alexander Shershukov, trade unionists are considering part-time work as an alternative to unemployment.It is noteworthy that it is the trend of wholesale transition of Russian enterprises to part-time work that is now most of all troubling trade unions. According to Mr. Shershukov, according to official data alone, about 1.2 million people in Russia have now been transferred to a shortened working week. “This is a big figure,” the FNPR believes, noting that it is the employees of enterprises using such a schedule who are today “a clear risk group” - the first candidates for dismissal.
According to trade unions, first of all, along with working hours, wages were cut for Russians employed in the metallurgical, engineering, metalworking, forestry and wood processing industries. In addition, according to the FNPR, a similar situation has developed in the public sector. In government agencies, according to Alexander Shershukov, the working day began to shorten both due to a drop in budget revenues and the transition to a new sectoral wage system. “The reform in times of crisis has not led to the promised increase in wages, but is actively promoting a reduction in rates,” lament workers’ advocates.
In addition, reducing working hours is fraught with numerous lawsuits throughout the country, as employers try to reduce wages not in proportion to working hours. As Alexander Shershukov told Vremya Novostey, for example, one of the factories in the Chelyabinsk region tried to calculate payment for downtime due to the fault of the employer based not on the full salary, but only on its minimum part (tariff rate).
That is why previously, during negotiations with officials and employers, trade unions insisted on refusing to reduce working hours, as well as against sending people on leave without pay. But in the current conditions, trade unionists also agree to provide unpaid long days off “at the personal request of workers.” The fact is that if now people are at least formally employed, then in the fall the FNPR expects a sharp increase in the number of unemployed. “If in the summer people go to their dachas and the tension on the labor market is not so noticeable, then when they try to return to work in September, surprises may await many,” Mr. Shershukov predicts.
By agreeing to a compromise, trade unionists hope to at least soften the blow to personnel. After all, the tripartite agreement, according to Mr. Shershukov, also provides for a temporary restriction on hiring new employees. Employers' refusal to work overtime, as enshrined in the document, should also promote employment.
In general, the advisory agreement between the FNPR, the Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is rather formal. An attempt to reconcile the proletarians with the employers, given the obvious threat of the workers being left without a livelihood, is unlikely to be crowned with success. According to the Ministry of Health and Social Development, registered unemployment as of April 22 is 2 million 280 thousand people (3% of the economically active population). And on an average annual basis, according to official statistics alone, 7.8 million people will remain unemployed.
“In order to overcome crisis phenomena within the country and regions and specifically at enterprises, unified approaches are needed, which, on the one hand, will prevent mass layoffs and ensure compliance with the labor rights of workers, and on the other hand, will be aimed at maintaining the competitiveness of enterprises,” - Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said yesterday at a meeting of the tripartite commission. And if the White House hopes to encourage employers and trade unions to engage in “social dialogue,” the FNPR intends to direct its regional branches to protect the rights of its members in the courts. “The tug-of-war will continue,” the trade unions admit.