On December 24, 2020, the Minister of Labor and Welfare of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Mesrop Arakelyan made the following post on his Facebook page: “By the initiative of the entire staff of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare, support will be provided to the pre-school children from the Republic of Artsakh, as a Christmas gift on behalf of our employees. The support is fully funded from the amounts that are allocated as December bonuses payments and salary supplements for employees of the ministry. ”
However, on January 18, 2021, it became clear from his press conference given to RFE – Radio Free Europe Armenia, that in fact, the Minister made the decision to use the fund intended for the remuneration of employees for the above-mentioned purpose unilaterally. During the press conference, several problematic statements were spoken as well.
The USLGPSEA sent a letter to the Minister of Labor and Welfare Mesrop Arakelyan, in which we particularly informed the minister about the need to adhere to social partnership and democratic principles, and referred to certain articles of the Budget System Act, as well as the Labour Act, which defines the remuneration of workers.
We hope that the concerns of the union will be taken into account during the future behaviour of the minister.