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31 May, 2010
ICEM has traditionally been very active in Central Asia and the Caucasus region since the sectors it has membership in are major economic drivers in these countries. Within this framework, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Rubber and Chemicals Industries Officer Kemal Özkan visited Armenia and Georgia in early May.
In Armenia, Warda and Özkan met Eduard Tumasyan, President of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia and Levon Khachatryan, Executive Secretary and Head of the Education-Research Centre of the confederation. Warda stressed the importance of boosting the role of trade unions in shaping civil society, and said the Armenia trilateral agreement that was signed by the government, Trade Union Confederation and Employers’ Association on 27 April 2009, establishing extra guarantees regulating labour relations and requiring parties to engage in joint actions was a major step in this direction.
Thanking the ICEM for the visit, Tumasyan stated the need to introduce new tools for developing labour relations in order to combat high unemployment through social partnering.
In Armenia, Levon Khachatryan; the Deputy Chair of the Textile and Light Industry Workers’ Union; Hrach Tadevosyan; the ICEM’s Manfred Warda; Karine Aloyan; Anastas Pahlevanyan; and ICEM’s Kemal Özkan
A recent report issued by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on core labour standards in Armenia stated that the right to strike is limited, and most work rights for public-sector workers is banned. The report also says collective bargaining and tripartite agreements at the national level have been virtually non-existent until 2009.
The ITUC adds that most workers are unable to exercise the right to unionise and bargain collectively due to flexibilisation in the labour code and the government’s tolerance of a high level of informal employment relationships.
The ICEM delegation also met with Anastas Pahlevanyan, President of the Mining and Metallurgical Workers’ Union, ICEM’s lone affiliate in Armenia, Karine Aloyan, President of Energy Workers’ Union, and Hrach Tadevosyan, President of the Chemical Workers’ Union in a meeting arranged by the confederation. Mining is one of the important economic forces in Armenia, and a major portion of the state budget is financed by taxes yielded from mining.
But the negative effects from the global economic crisis have been felt in the mines, where there are several multinational companies that have investments. In the city of Kapan, for example, Deno Gold Mining Co. was shut down for three months during the crisis, while more than 1,000 employees of Armenian Copper Program Co., located in Alaverdi, were also laid off.
This also holds true for the chemicals sector, where the biggest company, Nairit employing some 3,000 workers that produce rubber, laid off more than half its staff for over four months. In the energy industry, nuclear power takes an important position in generation and the unions raise major concerns on health and safety.
Following a presentation by Warda, the parties decided to continue cooperation in the near future with training activities.
The ICEM delegation then passed to neighbouring Georgia, where a first meeting was held with Irakli Petriashvili and Gocha Aleksandria, President and Vice President, respectively, of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC). Petriahvili explained GTUC efforts to reform the trade union movement in Georgia, but admitted a number of challenges.
He said changing the mentality of government, workers, and society as a whole is difficult, mainly because Georgia is considered a “champion” in adopting and practicing the prescriptions of global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
This puts the trade union movement in a more precarious position, and carrying out union activities is next to impossible. The legal landscape tends to restrict union organising and collective bargaining. “The existing labour law, in our view, is a declaration of rights of employers,” stated Gocha Aleksandria. Warda conveyed the full support of the ICEM toward the struggle of trade unions in Georgia.
According to last year’s ITUC report, Georgia’s Labour Code of 2006 severely reduced workers’ basic trade union rights through limitations on freedom of association and the right to organise, namely the threshold for establishing a trade union, which is excessively high.
There are severe restrictions on the right to strike. Solidarity strikes are prohibited and in practice, trade unionists get threats and intimidations and face dismissals without explanations. The labour code and government authorities provide insufficient protection against anti-union discrimination, and the law grants a de facto green light to union busting and a marginalisation of collective bargaining.
ICEM's Manfred Warda, at Georgian Press Conference
The ICEM delegation then attended a press conference in which support was conveyed to the public over changing these positions. There was also a television interview of Warda with a national channel, and all ICEM messages were well covered by the national media.
The ICEM delegation also met with Gocha Kvitatiani, President of Oil, Coal, and Gas Industry Workers’ Union, an ICEM affiliate, representing around 4,000 members; Naumi Nebieridze, President of the Energy Workers’ Union, representing 5,000 members: and Amiran Zeniashvili, Vice-President of the same union; and Tamaz Dolaberidze, President of the Mining, Metallurgical and Chemical Workers’ Union, which represents some 11,000 workers.
All the union officials explained the difficulties in their respective sectors in carrying out union activities. Warda presented the ICEM and its activities to a group composed of 25 union leaders from the three unions and the GTUC. It was then decided to deepen solidarity and cooperation.
Warda and Özkan then travelled to Zestafoni for a meeting with workers engaged in a conflict with the Zestafoni Ferroalloys Plant and Georgian Manganese Mines.
Commenting on the mission to the nations of the Caucasus, Warda, said, “Our overall programme in Armenia and Georgia, and in general in the Trans-Caucasus, was intensive and very successful. The ICEM will continue its support of trade unions in both countries through various means.”