Trade union body holds fourth congress in Baku
By Nigar Orujova
Baku hosted the fourth congress of the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (ATUC) on Tuesday.
President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory message to the union saying that Azerbaijani trade unions, which have over a century-long history, developed further in independent Azerbaijan and took their due place in the country's social life.
The president noted that most of the GDP is formed in the private sector of Azerbaijan. Thousands of business entities have been established in the country with both domestic and foreign investments; local and transnational companies and new jobs are opening.
The president's message said trade unions should be more persistent and take substantial measures to protect Azerbaijani citizens' social interests and labor rights, irrespective of the form of ownership. The government should intensify partnership with the confederation in this area and increase attention to the enforcement of the clauses of a comprehensive agreement signed with it.
Regarding the composition and goals of ATUC, which is the largest social organization in the country, the message said, "The majority of the entity's members are young people, who are a guarantor of our future. Taking into account this factor, trade unions should work for full protection of the working and studying young people's rights, support their initiatives and professional development, ensure employment and solve other important problems."
The congress was opened by Confederation chairman Sattar Mehbaliyev's report on the work done in the five-year period since the previous ATUC congress.
According to Mehbaliyev, ATUC steadily continues the campaign to provide a relevant proportion of the minimum wage to the minimal cost of living in the country.
Mehbaliyev noted that one of the ATUC's priority areas of activity in the past period has been struggle for a sufficient salary, which aims to protect economic independence of the worker and provide an opportunity to invest in the future.
"In the last five years, the minimum wage in the country was raised to 93.5 manats ($119) from 60 manats ($76). However, even these figures are lower than the minimum cost of living indicator...According to the estimates as of October 1, 2012, the minimum cost of living should reach 182 manats ($232) for an employee, 96.6 manats ($123.2) for a retired person and 115.2 manats ($146.9) for a child," Mehbaliyev said.
According to Mehbaliyev, in the five-year period the country's trade unions received 864,818 appeals and complaints, and 98.2 percent of them found their solution.
Every year, violations of labor norms make up most of the violations registered at the enterprises, which proves that relevant bodies and inspections cannot control the situation overall, Mehbaliyev believes.
Employers often prevent these bodies from performing their duties. This prompts trade unions to demand further toughening of punitive legislation and laws on administrative offenses.
MP Mehbaliyev was re-elected chairman of the Confederation at the congress for the next five-year period.
The fourth congress was attended by about 1,300 representatives of international organizations and foreign trade union representatives, as well as the chairperson of the International Labor Organization.
The agenda included making supplements and changes to the Confederation's regulations, defining the main areas of activity and organizational issues.
ATUC also made a decision to support Ilham Aliyev`s candidacy for the 2013 presidential elections.
On Wednesday, Mehbaliyev during a meeting of President Aliyev with foreign trade unions' heads presented to Aliyev a badge in connection with the 20th anniversary of ATUC.
ATUC comprises 18,610 trade union organizations and 26 craft unions. The total number of members is 1,600,000.
ATUC has been a member of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions since 2000. Also, it has been represented in the International Labor Organization together with a government union and an employers' association since 1992. The union's first, second and third congresses were held in 1998, 2003 and 2008 respectively.