General council of Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan: The Year of Safe Work will be held by Kazakhstan's trade unions in 2023.

The General Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan met in Astana to discuss the Federation's work over the past year under the Year of Social Partnership and identify new tasks.
The main results of work of Federation to the General Council were announced by the Chairman of the of Federation of Trade Unions of RK Satybaldy Dauletalin.
“Under the auspices of the Year of Social Partnership, the Federation of Trade Unions held a 2022 event. We contributed to the political transformations in the country: our member organizations carried out large-scale outreach work to hold a referendum to amend the Constitution of the country, and as part of the People's Coalition, we supported the candidacy of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. We were able to influence the course of social and labor relations in the country. Full membership in the International Trade Union Confederation has been restored. We took over the leadership of the Council of Trade Unions of Central Asian Countries”, emphasized Satybaldy Dauletalin.
The Chairman of the Federation noted that the social partnership system is currently functioning thanks to the initiative of the trade union.
“In 2022, we managed to influence the adoption of important decisions by the state on the instructions of President Kassym-Zhomar Tokayev, the program for increasing the income of the population was adopted, the minimum wage was raised and will continue to rise. We have launched a long-standing trade union initiative to develop a methodology for determining the minimum wage, including indexation. I would like to emphasize that the implementation of the trade unions' initiative to increase the size of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection became a reality precisely because the President publicly and unequivocally supported our position. All this shows that we are being heard and listened to. And we must continue to act”, called the Head of the Federation of Trade Unions.
The Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan initiated the proposals last year to increase the productivity of work tripartite commissions on social partnership. The President and Republican tripartite commission on social partnership supported them. Regional tripartite commissions headed by the akims introduced the practice of co-chairing on all sides of social partnership. Meetings are being held at union sites and in a visiting format.
“At the proposal of the Federation of Trade Unions, in 13 regions amendments were made to regional agreements regarding the issues of annual indexation of wages, reducing industrial injuries, preventing and preventing social and labor conflicts, additional payments to technical labor protection inspectors,” said Satybaldy Dauletalin.
In the previous year, there were two meetings of the National Tripartite Commission and 217 assemblies of regional commissions, 19 of which took place at the locales of regional trade centers. Concerning collective agreements, trade union entities presently possess over 16,000 collective agreements, encompassing more than 97% of the establishments within which trade unions function. The number of collective agreements in force in the Republic in 2022 increased by 9.3% compared with 2021, from 153 934 to 168 391.
The President of the Federation of Trade Unions has set the task of strengthening collective bargaining.
“In total, only 5.1% of the country’s organizations are covered by trade union membership. These indicators reflect the high potential for the work of affiliated organizations of the Federation of Trade Unions in attracting new trade union members and concluding collective agreements. We need to improve the quality of collective agreements and launch the fight for sustainable income. The 2023 collective bargaining campaign should be aimed at realizing the right to negotiate wages and ensuring safe working conditions. The success of such negotiations will be an agreement with the employer to increase wages and reduce occupational injuries”, the Head of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan said.
Speaking of the near-term development of social partnerships, Satybaldy Dauletalin noted that the Federation is taking the initiative to increase the status of the Republic tripartite commission, which will not be recommended but mandatory for all. In addition, at the initiative of the Trade Union Federation under MLSPP RK, a work group was held to hold consultations on the ratification of ILO Convention No. 131, which included representatives from trade unions. The Federation also takes an active part in the work on 35 projects, including amendments to the Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Law «On minimum social standards», as well as the development of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On Social Partnership».
“The adoption of a separate Law will contribute to the development of an organizational culture of partnerships, a mechanism for self-development of social dialogue processes, and the development of new forms of decision-making on social, labor and related economic issues,” noted the Chairman of the FTURK.
According to Satybaldy Dauletalin, the level of occupational injuries in Kazakhstan continues to remain high.
According to regional trade union centers, as of January 1, 2023, 1,232 occupational accidents were registered, resulting in 1,465 people injured: 203 of them were fatal, 897 were severe, and 365 were mild.
The largest number of victims was in the Karaganda and East Kazakhstan regions, with deaths in the Karaganda and Kostanay regions.
The causes of industrial injuries, as the Chairman of the FTURK emphasized, remain unsatisfactory organization of work, failure to ensure safe working conditions, etc.
Accidents continue to occur in which it is determined that the employer is 100% at fault.
“We, together with social partners, continue to work on the implementation of the Action Plan to ensure safe work in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2025. During the reporting year, we made proposals to increase the status and powers of labor safety technical inspectors, increase the number of state labor inspectors and transfer their powers from akimats to the Ministry of Labor. I would like to note that our proposals are reflected in the “Action Plan to Ensure Safe Work in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2025” and in the “Safe Work Concept until 2030,” said the Chairman of the FTURK.
Members of the General Council unanimously supported the proposal of Satybaldy Dauletalin to declare 2023 the “Year of Safe Work.”
The Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan placed special emphasis on the issues of preventing labor conflicts, the reasons for which he cited low incomes, deteriorating living standards of workers, and lack of decent working conditions.
Last year, 85 labor disputes recorded by Federation of Trade Union.
“In enterprises where there are no trade unions, labor conflicts are common. Thus, out of 85 enterprises, only 41 have trade union organizations. FTURK carries out daily monitoring of the state of social tension in the regions, maintains a Labor Risk Map, introduces the “Enbek Elshisi” Institute, and conducts the “Labor Consultations” campaign. The participation of our trade unions in all negotiation processes led to more meaningful negotiations, a reduction in the duration of conflicts, and the speedy achievement of agreements”, Satybaldy Dauletalin emphasized.
He also remembered that FTURK was involved in carrying out the Government's Comprehensive Plan to prevent and resolve labor disputes, the coordinated approach of social partners to prevent and resolve labor disputes, and also took part in the operations of the Situation Centre under the Ministry of Labor. Nevertheless, the Federation of Trade Unions plans to propose to the President the removal of the ban on business inspections.
“In order to prevent violations of workers’ rights and ensure proper safe working conditions, we intend to appeal to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with a request to lift the moratorium on inspections of enterprises regarding compliance with labor legislation,” the Chairman of the FTURK emphasized.
At the same time, proposals from the Federation of Trade Unions were sent to the Government to simplify the procedures for putting forward demands by employees and tighten the responsibility of employers for refusing to negotiate with the workforce.
These proposals are included in the Roadmap for addressing problematic issues at the country’s oil service enterprises.
The “How are you living, primary?” campaign, initiated by the Federation two years ago, helps keep abreast of the problematic issues of ordinary workers.
Last year, the FTURK and its affiliates held 829 meetings with primary trade union organizations with the participation of 23,083 trade union members. Of the 611 problematic issues voiced at the meetings, 388 were resolved positively, 212 are under the control of the Federation and industry trade unions.
“From my own experience, I note that feedback from local trade union members allows us to quickly respond to every alarm signal,” says the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Feedback from the Federation and its member organizations is also established through Public Receptions and Reconciliation Centers within the structure of the Legal Clinic of the FTURK.
Last year, the Law Clinics reviewed 5,820 complaints, 67% of them on issues of lack of an employment contract and non-payment of wages.
As Satybaldy Dauletalin said, the Federation of Trade Unions relies on the experience of its international partners in human rights work, as in other fields.
"2022 was a breakthrough year for the Federation of Trade Unions in the international arena. The painstaking work of the leadership of the Federation, its member organizations yielded the expected results - in November 2022, in the framework of the V Congress of the MCP, at a meeting of the General Council, a decision was made to reinstate the FTURK membership in the International Trade Union Confederation. In September 2022 at the second meeting of the Council of Trade Unions of the Central Asian countries - the chairmanship of the Council in 2023 was transferred to the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan», recalled the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, the issue of promoting trade union ideology remains topical in the activities of the Federation of Trade Unions.
The President of the FTURK has identified four areas - training of professional assets, image positioning, gender and youth policy.
In 2022, 440 training seminars were held covering 32,157 trade union members, projects «Educational marathon», «School of trade union leader» were implemented.
Satybaldy Dauletalin called for special attention to be paid to the development of trade union gender policy and to the promotion of youth activism of trade unions.
The Keleshek Youth Council is the initiator of a number of projects and events. Thus, within the framework of the Council of Trade Unions of the Countries of Central Asia, a mini-football tournament was held in Tashkent with the participation of teams of trade unions from the countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. And the first subregional youth forum is planned for this year.
The head of the FTURK also noted the importance of information support for the activities of trade unions. Last year, the Federation of Trade Unions launched the video studio “Kasipodaq Media”, which implements a number of video projects on the FTURK Youtube channel.
Summarizing his speech, Satybaldy Dauletalin set a number of main tasks for the trade union community for 2023.
“This year, we must begin working on the draft of a new General Agreement for 2024-2026. As part of the Year of Safe Work, guarantee that the Action Plan for Safe Work in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2025 is implemented, and carry out the People's Control project at enterprises, while adhering to the Vision Zero Concept of Zero Injuries. To gain trade union representation in the chamber and lobby for the labor union's interests, trade unions must participate directly in the electoral campaign for the election of deputies to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, instructed the Head of the FTURK.
Members of the General Council unanimously adopted the Concept of Trade Union Training, aimed at increasing the efficiency of the system for advanced training of trade union personnel.
The Federation budget for 2023 was also approved and, according to the FTURK Charter, the rotation of members of the General Council and the FTURK Executive Committee was approved.
Concluding the work of the General Council, the Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan emphasized that all the successes achieved last year were the result of the united work of all member organizations of the FTURK.
“The last few years after the 26th Congress have shown how true and justified our slogan is - “In unity for justice and development”! By uniting in our actions, we will be able to advance the interests of not only about two million members of our trade unions, but also of all workers of Kazakhstan,” concluded Satybaldy Dauletalin.

Media Center of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan