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Request to the Prime Minister regarding to the rise of “sticker fees”.
USLGPSEA wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, that without any discussions with social partners, the Government and Parliament urgently adopted amendments to the law, which increased the “sticker fees” which paid to the Servicemen’s Insurance Trust Fund.
Below is the text of the letter sent to the Prime Minister.
2020 On October 5, 2012, a tripartite collective agreement was signed between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the Republican Association of Employers of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia. The collective agreement is the most important tool of social partnership defined by the conventions of the UN’s International Labor Organization and the national legislation of the Republic of Armenia. The agreement, in particular, stipulates that:
“The parties agree that the draft of bills and other legislative acts in regard of labor law և rights, important for employers and employees, with exception of the drafts requiring urgent decision-making, shall be submitted to the opinion of the Republican Tripartite Commission, before the draft will be made into a law.“
Nevertheless, without any discussions with the social partners, violating the Agreement signed by them, the Cabinet of Ministers, on December 22, hastily issued a decision to approve draft amendments to the “Act on Compensation for Damages Caused to the Life or Health of Soldiers during the Homeland Defense”. The only few days later the Parliament passed the Amendments to the Act.
The law provides for significant changes for employees, putting an additional financial burden on them, but despite that, it was not discussed with the social partners under the National Collective Agreement. Moreover, the law was not even properly presented for the public discussion․ On November 5, 2020, a completely different version of the draft amendment was posted on the “e-draft” public discussion portal, where it was proposed to set a 3000 drams “sticker fee”.
However, significantly different version of draft was approved by Cabinet of Mininsters’ decision. In particular, “sticker fees” with “regressive” rates have been set, targeting mostly middle- and low-income employees.
Thus, one of the most important laws concerning the whole working people and there families, which significantly affects their working and social conditions, was adopted not only without public discussionm but also ignoring social partners, disregarding the social dialogue and violating the National Collective Agreement, in almost discreet and urgent manner. This is a significant setback for democratic processes.
On November 18, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan presented a 20-point roadmap for overcoming the post-war crisis, the 14th point of which considers holding regular thematic consultations with the representatives of the Armenian political and civil community. We urge you to adhere to the principles of social dialogue and democracy, as defined by the National Collective Agreement, as well as the roadmap adopted by the Prime Minister, and to discuss them in detail with the social partners before adopting labour-relating legislation. We consider it necessary to review the above-mentioned law in order to avoid negative consequences.
There is no doubt that no injured soldier or his family member should be left without compensation, but it is the state that, as an employer, should be responsible and insure its soldiers’ security. Workers should not be held responsible for wars at their own expense. Employees should not be constantly blamed for all the failures of the state. Even without that, about 1/3 of the state budget is formed from the income tax paid by the employees, and it is the responsibility of the state to manage the internal revenues more efficiently and responsibly in order to ensure the necessary public spending.
The need for public spending has become more necessary in recent years, especially by 2020. However, instead of systemic solutions, the state tries to fill the gap of public expenditures through separate, independent or even private funds and crowdfunding accounts created for each problem individually: the Servicemen’s Insurance Fund, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, the bank account for assitiance of COVID-19 Prevention and Overcoming etc. Moreover, at the same time, in 2019, the flat-rate taxation was introduced, which significantly reduced the income tax for individuals and reduced the corporate profit tax.
If the state budget is not enough to cover the necessary public expenses, there might not have been a need to reduce the income tax and corporate tax rates and introduce flat-rate system. In addition, it is necessary to put some social commitents on the private sector and employers, otherwise it looks like the burden of the state is placed only on the shoulders of employees. The need to impose social responsibility on employers has been confirmed by the international experience of the vast majority of countries in the world, and there is no need for “discovering America”.
Instead of improving and consolidating internal revenues so that the needs of the state and society (including pensions, military, health, and other types of insurance) are met through the public budget, government services, as well as through social responsibilities imposed on employers, on the contrary, the internal revenues are reduced, while the public expenditures and liabilities are outsourced to the “funds”.
We believe, that having 30% poverty, workers-poors and one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, no universal health coverege system և about 130 thousands dram of deposable median income (220 euros), it is inacceptable to handover social security programs out of the “state area” into the “funds area”. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Armenia is a welfare state, and any country with a social orientation implements social security programs using proper public spending and at the same time impose a social responsibility on the private sector.
We suggest holding discussions with social partners to revise the above-mentioned law. For example, to cover the insurance for injured/killed servicemen, you might want to:
- Review the corporate tax rates for the business sector, and invest a fracture of the of it to provide the insurance of servicemen
- Review the flat-rate taxation system
- Develop a policy to bring social security programs back from the “foundations/fund” business to the state business
- Reduce tax exemptions to private sector, which are being issued at almost every week
A law has been passed without social dialogue!
Only three months ago, the tripartite National Collective Agreement of social partnership was signed between the Government, the Republican Employers’ Association and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia. The clause in the Agreement states, that:
“The parties agree that the draft of bills and other legislative acts in regard of labor law և rights, important for employers and employees, with exception of the drafts requiring urgent decision-making, shall be submitted to the opinion of the Republican Tripartite Commission, before the draft will be made into a law. “
Nevertheless, without any discussions with the social partners, violating the Agreement signed by them, the Cabinet of Ministers, on December 22, hastily issued a decision to approve draft amendments to the “Act on Compensation for Damages Caused to the Life or Health of Soldiers during the Homeland Defense”. The only few days later the Parliament passed the Amendments to the Act. (Remarks: according to original Act, from all employees in Armenia a mandatory fixed-amount payroll deductions (~2$) was made – which then go into independent insurance trust fund. Because these money do not end up at state’s hand, but independent fund, it is not a tax, and instead is called “sticker fee”. The fund is used to assign welfare payments and compensations to servicemen with distorted health, or to their families, if soldier is killed).
The new amendments added a new financial burden on employees. It is not enough that for years there has been no increase in salaries, especially for public sector and local government employees, now, according to the law, employees with incomes from 100 to 200 thousand drams have to pay 3000 drams, and those with incomes from 200 to 500 thousand drams will have to pay 5500 drams “sticker fee”. This is in fact, a regressive form of payroll deduction. It is not clear by what logic the person receiving a salary of 1 million dram is forced to pay only 0.85% of the salary, but the person receiving a salary of 200 000 drams will pay the 2․75%. This targets those with lower incomes.
Undoubtedly, the Servicemen’s Insurance Trust Fund must operate smoothly, and no injured soldier or his family member must be left without compensation, but it is the state that must insure its soldiers. As always, instead of running state infrastrucutures, such as social security and welfare, the state-level problems are solved through the pocket of the individual, in form of crowdfunding. The workers are not to blame for powers provoking wars without ensuring the protection and safety of the soldiers, and creation of appropriate systems and infrastructures. We are sure that many employees will have their voluntary contribution in this important welfare scheme, but to oblige it by law is inadmissible, and also, we believe, unconstitutional.
Especially during the crisis, democracy and the easing of the social burden of the society are very important, while the authorities ignore both, and do pass law with disregarding of social dialogue.
Therefore, we will fight against this law.
To shorten the labour time, the article above is partly written using AI tools, such as AI translation, with additional edit.
Anahit Asatryan’s speech during Yerevan City Council meeting regarding “13th salary”
On December 23, at the Yerevan city Council meeting, during the speech exchange section, Anahit Asatryan, the Yerevan City Councilor and the President of the USLGPSEA spoke about so-called “13th salary” for Yerevan Municipality employees.
Honorable Mr. Mayor!
As the president of one of the largest national trade unions in Armenia, which unites thousands of members, including the employees of the city administration , I can not but address the issue of the so-called “13th salary”. According to the Labor Act of Armenia, the trade union is the workers’ representative, so I, as an elected president, represent the interests of the workers here, whether we like it or not. For many years, practically always, the employees of the city have been receiving one additional salary at the end of the year, which is called “13th salary” by the tradition coming from Soviet era. Regardless of the amount of this salary, it was still part of the regular pay, as it was always been paid to through decades. After the start of the War, Mr. Mayor, you decided not to pay bonuses to the workers, justly considering that it would not be morally fair. And by the same logic, as you have already stated, you also decided not to pay the so-called “13th salary”.
I point your attention to the fact that Article 105, Clause 3 of the Labor Act stipulates that the employer may change the amount of remuneration and (or) determine the amount of remuneration without the written consent of the employee only if the terms of remuneration change according to the law or the collective agreement. However, there is no collective agreement between the mayor and city administration workers’ union, since there is no such culture formed yet, and the employees have not give any consent regarding the discussed matter. I think that not only is it not fair to deprive the employees of the 13th salary, which was paid for years and became sort of a was part of the actual salary, but it is also a violation of the law.
Let me remind you,
that in 2020 the employees
• worked during Martial Law and State of Emergency in difficult, unhealthy conditions, in some cases overloaded with extra responsibilities and overtime
• were the primary pillar that was in direct contact with citizens, solving their problems
• during the war, they worked sometimes without weekends to provide assistance to the internally-displaced population of unrecognized Republic Artsakh, and to perform other functions
that the vast majority of employees
• got infected with COVID-19 and had to take care about themselves by themselves, and bear the burden of illness of the their family members, and in many cases they spent more than their salary for treatments and medications
• made personal contributions to the protection of the borders of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh, by donating money from salaries to the “Hayastan All-Armenian Fund”, the “Yerevan Voluntaries Brigade” NGO and other initiatives
• Provided psychological and material support to relatives and friends who were on the front lines
At the same time:
Both crises led to the deterioration of the economic situation, the devaluation of the currency, and consequently the rise in prices for basic consumer products, which caused additional social problems.
It has already been mentioned that there has been no wage increase for the last8 years, and during those years where had a significant inflation, which swallowed almost 20% of the salary, and also during those years a new burdens were added on the employees in the form of payroll contributions to the Pension Funds.
We must emphasize the role of workers in ensuring the normal functioning of the state in times of crisis, the need to stimulate the motivation of workers and relieve the social tensions to some extent.
Mr. Mayor, I have great respect for your decision regarding bonus payments. But please re-consider it and in the 2020 pay the employees an additional salary in December (bonus / add-on/ 13th salary).
Dear colleagues of the City Council, I also appeal to you, and propose to take immediate steps to increase the salaries of the employees of city starting from 2021.
In response to her speech, the mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan said that he is concerned about the employees more than the employee’s representative, but along with this concern, he is not going to pay the employees the 13th salary.
DISCLAIMER: To shorten the labor time, the English version of the this article has been prepared by partly using the assistance of the Google Translate service’s machine translation, and afterwards it was edited and corrected by an USLGPSEA employee.
The pandemic – the organising and recruitment challenge for trade unions. EPSU webinar
64 trade unionists, organizers, union officers and activists, from more than 50 unions and 30 countries took part in the fourth webinar of EPSU’s recruitment and organizing (R&O) network. Arsen Igityan from USLGPSEA also took part in the webinar.
This addressed the question: “Can we organise in the middle of pandemic?”
The main aim of the webinar was to exchange on innovative trade union responses to organizing and recruitment during the pandemic. Despite the challenges, there are many examples of unions managing to increase membership. During the webinar several were presented by two speakers:
John Wood of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the UK explained how the TUC was running an online campaigns platform for the it member organisations at megaphone.org.uk. He said that unions have been using the tools to engage workers during the pandemic and move them towards online organising activity. There had been successful online campaigns in the Wetherspoons pubs company and in Greencore, a sandwich producer. These had mobilised many workers and outside supporters, as well as organising and recruiting new members. Each involved some basic steps: present the campaign online; create an online petition; arrange a zoom call and then do individual follow-up (phone, whatsup, etc.).
There is more information here: https://digital.tuc.org.uk and in the John’s presentation.
Cosmin Andreica of the Publisind public administration union in Romania explained the success of his union in reaching out to police workers during the pandemic and recruiting new members using digital tools. In 2020 his union has grown by 15% as a result of using as many tools as possible to reach out members and non-members. This started with getting great media coverage, leading to their web site (voted no. 1 in Romania in the category of unions and NGOs) with an online membership form that can be completed in six seconds.
There is more information in Cosmin’s presentation and at: https://sindicateuropol.ro/
This article is copied from the EPSU website. The source: https://www.epsu.org/article/pandemic-organising-and-recruitment-challenge-trade-unions
Appeal of the Sectoral Trade Unions of Armenia to the Ambassadors of foreign states
Dear Honorable Ambassador,
On September 27, Azerbaijan, with support of Turkey and mercenary fighters from terrorist groups, unleashed a large-scale war against Artsakh Republic (Nagorno-Karabakh).
As known, on the 4th of July, 1921, during the formation of Soviet Republics on the South Caucasus, Nagorno-Karabakh (95% of the population of which being Armenians at that moment) became the part of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), but the very next day, with direct meddling of Stalin, Nagorno-Karabakh was forcibly incorporated into Azerbaijani SSR as a Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. This was an arbitrary decision, and today it can be seen as a relic of the colonialist policies of soviet imperialism. Moreover, such decision led to mass violation of human rights of the population of the Region.
Throughout the entire period of existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region as part of the Azerbaijani SSR, the Azerbaijan’s leadership was conducting deliberate policies of expulsion of the Armenian population from the Region, by systematic violations of their rights and restriction of the economic development of the Region, while at the same time promoting the immigration and establishing settlements of Azeri population into the Region.
The most acute discriminatory policies were targeted to the national and cultural identity of the Region’s population. Majority of the Armenian churches were shut down, while the mosques continued to operate. The Armenian language was excluded from the official communications. Cultural ties with Armenian SSR were banned, along with the teaching of Armenian history in schools. The number of Armenian schools were cut and there were no textbooks available in Armenian. The outcome of such policies was a demographic shift towards an increase of the Azerbaijani minority in the Region. Despite all the efforts of the Azerbaijani SSR, to the moment of the USSR collapse, the Armenian population still constituted 80 % of the total Region’s population.
Getting hopeful from the liberalization and “perestroika” reforms brought to USSR by Mikhail Gorbachev, in the 1988 the Armenian population of the Autonomous Region expressed its demand to be separated from Azerbaijan and to join Armenia, to put the end to the decades-long discriminatory policies.
However, in response to the demand of the Armenian population to exercise its right to self-determination and declaration of its independence, a wave of pogroms were organized by Azerbaijani authorities targeting Armenian nationals in the cities of Sumgait and Baku, accompanied by unprecedented massacres, violence, robbery and force deportation. Hundreds of Armenians were brutally killed, thousands were injured, about 450 thousand were evicted from their homes and became refugees. At the end, the right to self-determination turned into a large-scale war, which caused to horrible consequences for both countries.
Nagorno-Karabakh, therefore, according the conducted referendum, had been separated from Azerbaijan even before the Azerbaijan became an independent, UN-recognized state in 1991.
Although the Republic of Artsakh has not received an international recognition, it has been de-facto existing for almost 30 years now. It is a country with its own constitution, with government, with all the attributes of a democratic republic, and with developed civil society.
During all these years Azerbaijan never stopped its intention to return the administrative control over Karabakh by military means, referring to the principle of territorial integrity and internationally-recognized borders, but disregarding the desire and the right of the Karabakh population for life and self-determination.
Currently, violating international humanitarian law, the Turkish-Azerbaijani army, using banned weapons, such as cluster and phosphorus munitions, using huge number of high-tech drones and other military equipment, deliberately targets cities and towns of Artsakh, destroying the civilian population, attacking civilian structures: hospitals, schools, kindergartens, attractions, cultural sites and churches; elderly, women and children are being killed. More than 90 thousand people became refugees, 33 thousand children lost their right to education. The Azerbaijani army commits horrifying war crimes, including massacres of residents, executions of doctors and journalists, cruel and inhuman treatment of Armenian war captives and their bodies.
Participation of the Turkey makes the war particularly concerning for us, as Turkey, which went unpunished for Armenian genocide, today once again claims its intention to accomplish the crime that it started 100 years ago. In front of the eyes of the whole civilized world a new genocide of the people of Artsakh is happening.
The fact that the international organizations and heads of states address both sides of the conflict with the equal calls and observe neutrality, gives Azerbaijan a carte blanche to continue this aggression. The defending sides – Armenia and Artsakh are not able to simply stop the self-defense, while the attacking sides – on behalf of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and terrorist fighters – are continuing the attack.
The situation in the region risks getting out of control very soon. The number of citizens killed in the region is growing by alarming rate. According to various estimates, during last month almost ten thousand people have already died on both sides in total. In the Republic of Artsakh alone, Azerbaijani forces attacked more than 160 civilian settlements, destroying, or damaging 15 000 private facilities and about 2 700 public facilities, including industrial buildings, hospitals, 61 schools and 10 kindergartens.
Along with the shelling the settlements, the Azerbaijani armed forces deliberately set the forests of Artsakh on fire, using banned weapons with white phosphorus. According to preliminary information, 1815 hectares of forests have already been set on fire, and the fires continue to spread. Given the size and geographical coverage of the burned forests, the population of the Artsakh Republic is facing an environmental disaster that undermines the ecological safety of the whole region and has dangerous long-term consequences for the life and health of the citizens of Artsakh. In addition, with this inhuman method the armed forces of Azerbaijan intend to harm the civilians who might be sheltered in the forests.
The inaction and silence of the international community creates a distrust towards the international organizations, the international community itself, the international law, and the European values among the region’s population. The reputation of international humanitarian and human rights laws suffers. This already leads to radicalization of societies, to the rise of nationalist and supremacist sentiments and political destabilization both in Armenia and in Azerbaijan. The humanitarian and economic disaster will contribute to mass migration of the population of region to more stable countries.
WE, the sectoral trade unions of Armenia, representing around 150 000 workers and their families, urgently call your government to use every opportunity and available tools to immediately take the Turkey out of the conflict and stop the war.
Everything that happens in Artsakh right now once again proves that the only long-term guarantee of the safety for the people of Artsakh is the international recognition of the independence of the Republic. Any other status given to it as part Azerbaijan will threaten the life and security of the people of Artsakh, and this has been confirmed multiple times throughout the history. Even the establishment of the status-quo will not be able to ensure the physical safety, not to mention the civil and political rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
WE URGE the authorities of your country to recognize the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination, which is necessary to save the lives.
Signatures:
Union of state, local government, and public service employees of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of workers of health sector of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of the culture workers of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of miners, metallurgy, and jewelry workers of Republic of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of the employees of municipal economy and public utilities of Republic of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of workers of education and science of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of employees of financial institutions and professional employees of banks of Armenia
The republican branch union of trade union organizations of industrial workers of Republic of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of the workers of agricultural industry sector
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of commerce, catering, consumer cooperatives and entrepreneurship workers of Armenia
“Electro-union” – a Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of workers of light industry of Armenia
Branch Republican Union “Miabanutyun” of Professional Organizations of information technology, aviation and means of communication workers of Armenia
An Urgent Appeal to the Global Trade Union Community From The National Sectoral Trade Unions of Armenia
Dear colleagues,
Already for month Armenia and Artsakh are involved in large-scale war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Armenian-populated unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh Republic).
This conflict has a long history.
Back in 1918, the population of Artsakh (95% of which were Armenians) declared an independence and refused to become a part of first Azerbaijan Republic, resisting the Azerbaijani and Turkish massacres and pogroms. On the 4th of July, 1921, during the formation of Soviet Republics on the South Caucasus, Artsakh became the part of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), but the very next day, with meddling of Stalin, Artsakh was forcibly incorporated into Azerbaijani SSR, as a Nagorno-Karabagh Autonomous Region.
Even during the era of Soviet Union, the authorities of Azerbaijani SSR systematically conducted a discriminatory policy towards the Armenian population in Karabagh Autonomous region.
In the 1988, the liberation movement in Karabagh was reborn. The National Council of Karabagh, using its right of self-determination, issued an appeal towards Supreme Councils of both Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs, requesting to separate the Karabagh from Azerbaijan. However, as a response, the authorities in Azerbaijan organized massed pogroms and killings of Armenian residents in the cities of Baku and Sumgait.
In the 1991, during the dissolution of Soviet Union, according the right of self-determination, the population of Karabagh once again expressed its desire, through a referendum, to be separated from Azerbaijan. As result, the war erupted in the Karabagh, which lasted for 4 years. The people of Karabagh eventually have fought their independence, and on May 12th, 1994 a tripartite ceasefire agreement was reached between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Artsakh Republic.
The unrecognized Republic of Artsakh exists for already about 30 years. It is a country with its own Constitution, with Government, with all attributes of democratic republic, with developed civil society, including trade unions. During these years, trade unions of Artsakh achieved remarkable results in the evolvement of social partnership and promotion of workers rights, despite the fact, that they have been isolated from international trade union movement.
During all these last 3 decades, Azerbaijan has been demonstrating unacceptance of any compromises, insisting on the return of Karabagh to its control, and rejection of the fundamental rights of Karabagh Armenians for self-determination. Such attitude diminished all the peace efforts by international mediators. On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan, with active support of Turkey and terrorist mercenary fighters, unleashed the extensive military attack on Artsakh.
This is already the third war, initiated by Azerbaijan towards the independent Artsakh Republic, that chose the path of democracy.
Despite international humanitarian principles, the military forces of Azerbaijan, with use of internationally banned weapons, deliberately attacked civil infrastructures – schools, hospitals, kindergartens, cultural sites, churches. Women, children, and elderly are being killed, more than 90 thousand of people became refugees, around 24 thousand of children have lost their right of education. We have witnessed war crimes, where civilians were executed, doctors and journalists were targeted by the enemy.
Today, not only Artsakh and Armenia, but the whole region is on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe.
Turkey, which went unpunished for conducting Armenian genocide hundred years ago, once again declares the intention to exterminate Armenian people.
The society of Armenia came together to fight the aggressor.
Trade unions of Armenia are actively taking part by offering its resources and capacity to help families of Artsakh who left homeless, to offer an aid to the families of wounded and killed trade union members.
During the recent days, many international organizations, state leaders, as well as international trade unions keep the neutrality, and call both sides of conflict to cease the fire and resume the peaceful talks. However, in this conflict the sides are not equal. The defending side is not able to simply stop defending itself, while the attacking side, on behalf of Azerbaijan, Turkey and terrorist fighters, is continuing the attack.
What happens today in Artsakh once again proves, that the only long-term guarantee of the safety for residents of Artsakh is the international recognition of Artsakh Republic. Any other status, that it will get as a part of Azerbaijan, will be life-threatening for the Artsakh people, and history proved this multiple times.
We appeal to all the trade unions! Our mission is to always defend the human rights, to fight for the justice. Please do not be silent, call your governments. The right of self-determination of the people must be recognized by international community in sake of the salvation of people who reside there. We count on your solidarity!
Signees
Union of state, local government, and public service employees of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of workers of health sector of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of the culture workers of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of miners, metallurgy, and jewelry workers of Republic of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of the employees of municipal economy and public utilities of Republic of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of workers of education and science of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of employees of financial institutions and professional employees of banks of Armenia
The republican branch union of trade union organizations of industrial workers of Republic of Armenia
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of the workers of agricultural industry sector
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of commerce, catering, consumer cooperatives and entrepreneurship workers of Armenia
“Electro-union” – a Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations
Republican Branch Union of trade union organizations of workers of light industry of Armenia
Branch Republican Union “Miabanutyun” of Professional Organizations of information technology, aviation and means of communication workers of Armenia
National tripartite collective agreement is signed
On October 5, after long negotiations, the National Tripartite Collective Agreement was signed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the Confederation of Trade Unions and the President of the Employers’ Association of Armenia. As a result of the agreement, a Republican Tripartite commission, consisting of representatives of the three parties of agreement will be formed to ensure its implementation and enforcement. The meetings of the commission must happen at least once in every quarter. The Agreement contains various provisions related to labor, social and economic rights and norms, some of which can be highlighted:
- The parties agree to support the establishment and development of trade unions, to promote the development of social partnership
- The parties must to submit the draft bills concerning labor legislation, labor rights and norms related to employees interests to the opinion of the Republican Tripartite Commission before their adoption.
- In order to ensure decent work, the parties must to support the development and implementation of culture the practice of collective bargaining.
An Action Plan for the implementation of Agreement has to be developed in near future.
It should be noted, that the previous National Tripartite Collective agreement was signed in 2015 for a period of three years, then its term was extended for another year.
After the revolution, it was anticipated that we will have more revolutionary process of social dialogue – improved negotiations, improved Agreement. In reality, however, the negotiation process was long and inefficient, as a result of which, instead of improving the Agreement, we had to fight for at least preserving the previous Agreement’s text and not making it worse. We regret that the process of signing the agreement was not ceremonial, and was not by done by the three parties coming together, be it physical or at least online. Probably the reason for that was the quarantine and martial law.
The full copy of the Agreement is available here.
October 7: Peace has no alternative
Today, on October 7, when the world celebrates the World Day of Decent Work, the Armenian society found itself in a double crisis. Having not yet recovered from the severe consequences of the epidemic, the country was plunged into a full-scale war. Workers and their families go to the frontline to defend their right to live in the homeland. The healthcare system, along with COVID-19 patients, now is also overloaded with wounded on the battlefield. The functionality of the state will be suspended for a long time, the budget formed from taxes will irreversibly lose the resources that should have been directed to overcoming the crisis, restoring public health, improving public life. There will be a setback in all the economic, social and political indicators that have taken place so far.
But there is no alternative to peace. The society cannot fight endlessly against the crises on different sides. Events have shown that even in peacetime, public services have great difficulty overcoming the health crisis, and workers have difficulty finding a dignified existence.
Employees devote a significant portion of their lives to work and to pays taxes․ Instead, they deserve to live in a sovereign state, to have a peaceful, quality, socially secure, healthy life and not to be afraid of the future.
We must achieve peace as soon as possible, and then work out completely new social approaches to get out of the double crisis, to build a socially guarantees for society, and a resilient state.
To shorten the labor time, this tranlsation of this article is partly done by help of AI technologies by Google.
Violation of Trade Union rights and international law in Armenia
As a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO, ILO), the Republic of Armenia has ratified a total of 29 ILO conventions, including all eight basic conventions.
Although freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are guaranteed by fundamental conventions, there are violations of both those fundamental rights in national law and in practice. In general, violations of the rights enshrined in the ILO Conventions, particularly those enshrined in the Freedom of the Union Convention, occur regularly in state and local governments, but in many cases violations by officials are unproven because employees are not always ready to speak out.
Not everyone has the right to unite
Thus, for example, Article 4 of the ILO Convention No. 151 states:
- Civil servants enjoy adequate protection against discrimination against their work.
- Such protection shall apply, in particular, to the purposes for which it is intended.
(a) subject the work of civil servants to the condition that they do not join the organization of civil servants or refuse to join such an organization;
(b) result in the dismissal of a civil servant or damage by any other means on the ground that he is a member of an organization of civil servants or participates in the normal activities of such an organization.
Paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the same Convention stipulates that “the application of the guarantees provided for in this Convention to the Armed Forces and the Police shall be determined by domestic law or by-laws.”
Although the amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, adopted on December 6, 2015, removed the restrictions on police and armed forces, as well as judges before, the legislation in this regard has not yet complied with the Constitution. In particular, according to Article 39, Clause 7 of the RA Law on Police Service, “Police officers cannot be united on the basis of the common interests of any party, socio-political, public (except scientific, cultural, sports, hunting, veterans”. use the position of members of religious organizations, including religious and trade unions, to promote the interests of parties, non-governmental organizations, including religious associations, and to treat them in the same way as other political or religious activities in the performance of their official duties. ”
The same restriction applies to Article 5 of the RA Law on Trade Unions. “Employees of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, police, national security, prosecutor’s office, as well as judges and the Constitutional Court cannot be members (members) of the Trade Union Organization. members. ”
Not everyone has the right to negotiate collectively
According to Article 9 of the same Convention 151 above, “civil servants, like other workers, have civil and political rights that are essential to the normal exercise of the right to freedom of association, provided that they maintain their status and obligations.” . However, the legislation of the Republic of Armenia does not stipulate the state side of branch collective bargaining for civil servants, as a result of which the trade union of employees of Armenian state institutions and local self-government bodies does not have the opportunity to conduct collective bargaining for those state employees. At the same time, Article 5 of Convention No. 154 states that:
- 1. Measures adapted to national conditions shall be taken to promote collective bargaining.
- 2. The aims of the measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be the following:
- (a) collective bargaining should be made possible for all employers and all groups of workers in the branches of activity covered by this Convention;
- (b) collective bargaining should be progressively extended to all matters covered by subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Article 2 of this Convention;
- (c) the establishment of rules of procedure agreed between employers’ and workers’ organisations should be encouraged;
- (d) collective bargaining should not be hampered by the absence of rules governing the procedure to be used or by the inadequacy or inappropriateness of such rules;
- (e) bodies and procedures for the settlement of labour disputes should be so conceived as to contribute to the promotion of collective bargaining.
The same problem exists for municipal workers.
Laws and trade union rights are violated by government officials
The requirements of the ILO Convention are often violated in state organizations in the Republic of Armenia, as well as in local self-government bodies, when public officials prohibit employees from forming or joining a trade union. Such situation is relevant mainly in the provinces of the Armenia. All this is often undercovered as the “preference workers” and is difficult to prove. As a result, over the past 10 years, trade unions have ceased to operate in most of the cprovinces of the Republic of Armenia, particularly in large towns, such as Gyumri, Sisian, Goris, Meghri, Agarak, Kajaran, Armavir, Alaverdi, Tumanyan, etc. In the last 5 years alone, the number of municipalities where there are trade unions contracted twice, and the number of union members shrunk significantly. For example, immediately after the revolution, in the summer of 2018, the city administration of Hrazdan city (acting mayor of Hrazdan at that time: Lilit Stepanyan) stopped transferring the membership fees of the workers’ union to the Regional Union of Hrazdan Public Service without informing the workers, including our members in Hrazdan City Hall, therefore, existence of union has stopped.
There are cases, when high-ranking state officials influence the trade unions operating in the structures they lead. On the one hand, they allegedly support the trade union organization, on the other hand, they demand not to affililate the appropriate Sectoral unions, explaining to the workers that “their money would flow to another place unnecessarily.” In fact, such leaders are trying to manage the financial resources of the trade union themselves, which contradicts Article 5 of the Convention No. 151, stating that “In particular, acts which are designed to promote the establishment of public employees’ organisations under the domination of a public authority, or to support public employees’ organisations by financial or other means, with the object of placing such organisations under the control of a public authority, shall be deemed to constitute acts of interference within the meaning of this Article.” Such cases also violate the ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association, as no one has the right to interfere in the internal administration of the union, especially financially.
There are many organizations in the public sector, with “isolated” yellow trade unions, without any affiliation to sectoral or national level, and this situtaion contiunes even after Revolution. Examples are the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Enviroment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the State Commission for Economic Competition, etc. It is possible to emphasize once again that all such cases are difficult to prove, as the employees do not reveal the behavior of the managers.
An example is the letter sent to the Minister of Justice in June 2018 by our union, where we informed about situation, and offered to at least collaborate with us. A a respond, we have been told, that at the meeting of their union, members did not express a wish to affiliate to further level. However, it is not known if this ois true, as we have not been provided with opporunity to meet them and introduce us during their meeting. In another letter received from the former governor of Lori, he, in fact, admits that he is making a decision on membership fees to be transferred to the branch union.
Only after the revolution, in the summer of 2018, by the initiation of the regional governors of Armavir and Vayots Dzor, (Armavir regional governor of that time: Gagik Mirijanyan), the collection of membership fees was illegally suspended, which effectively stopped the activities of trade unions. Gagik Mirijanyan, the former governor of Armavir, was not satisfied with his illegal actions and went further to force the village mayors to refuse to transfer the membership fees to the trade unions, calling it as “the of financial means provided by the employer to the relevant trade union.” The same governor left the letter of the our union unanswered, violating Article 66 of the Labor Code, which is also a violation of Convention No. 135.
In 2015, the leadership of the General Department of State Protection of the Police “revealed” that the trade union organization operating in the department possesses significant financial resources. Within a few months, they were able to organize the change of the Chairman of the trade union by various tricks, influencing the employees, after which the activity of the trade union was finally stopped. In all its actions, the management violated the Article 1 of the Convention No. 135, which states that “Workers’ representatives in the undertaking shall enjoy effective protection against any act prejudicial to them, including dismissal, based on their status or activities as a workers’ representative or on union membership or participation in union activities, in so far as they act in conformity with existing laws or collective agreements or other jointly agreed arrangements.”
The violation of the same Convention took place in 2018. In Armavir Governor Office, Governor Mirijanyan forced two employees to write an application and resign, leaving them without any possible means of protection.
Gyumri city Mayor Samvel Balasanyan did not allow the representatives of our union to hold a meeting with the employees and advised to address the employees through TV instead.
Although the national legislation, in particular the Labor Code, provides for the implementation of the ILO Convention No. 154 “On Collective Bargaining”, there are insufficient mechanisms to implement them and in practice these norms are often violated. For example, quite recently, on June 1, 2019, the Matenadaran Workers’ Trade Union submitted a petition to the employer, in which they made demands on the working conditions of the employees. According to Articles 65, 66 of the Labor Code, and the Law on Trade Unions, the employer is obliged to discuss the received claims, within seven days after receiving them, to make a written decision and provide it to the claimant, but the employer did not respond to the letter, moreover at the meeting with employees, he stated that he refuses to negotiate with the trade union organization, as most of the employees are not united in it.
There are many other similar cases described above in the Republic of Armenia, which prove that although the legislation provides for certain regulations, there are no mechanisms to ensure the application of the law.
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USLGPSEA statement on May 1, 2020
Today, the Mayday, the International Day of Solidarity of Workers, for the first time in 130 years, the world’s trade unions have not organized mass events. Our union also violated the tradition of the last 9 years by not celebrating May 1 on the street.
The situation with the Coronavirus further emphasized the role of public service employees. For many years, the Armenian authorities have ignored the public sphere, systematically depriving it of sufficient funding and support. Governments that changed from one to another have regularly threatened to cut back on government spending at the expense of workers.
As a result of such practices, what we have today has evolved over the years: undervalued public servants, low wages, social tensions, and inequality. State-owned organizations without basic conditions and employees with minimum wages, who run the state on their shoulders on the one hand, and “businessmen” who have accumulated great wealth and received tax privileges, on the other hand, for whom the priority is not statehood but personal interest. The crisis has once again proved that public services cannot be for-profit.
The Armenian government has declared the economic revolution as an important political guideline, but it should be remembered that the mentioned revolution is impossible without the second party involved in it – the employeea. Entrepreneurs and investments cannot create added value, public good or economic potential on their own, without employees. The backbone of this system is the worker, and any achievement can only be achieved thanks to the workers.
These days, in Armenia, as well as all over the world, public service workers are at the forefront. Despite all the difficulties, they ensure the normal functioning of the state services, risking their own safety and health. We thank the public servants and the public sector workers for their work.
We call on the Armenian authorities to refrain from the previously adopted policy of laid-offs, privatization and outsourcing, to ensure the environment of mutual trust, to rely on social dialogue and trilateral talks.
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