Third Congress of the Confederation of Labor of Kazakhstan Held in Almaty
Forty delegates participated in the Third Congress of the Confederation of Labor of Kazakhstan (CLK), held on September 19 in Almaty. The event brought together representatives from sectoral trade unions affiliated with the CLK, as well as officials from the Ministry of Labor of Kazakhstan, the "Amanat" Trade Union Association, and the General Confederation of Trade Unions.
CLK General Secretary Murat Mashkenov presented a report on the republic’s trade union achievements over the past five years and outlined key priorities for future development. The Confederation will focus on protecting workers’ rights, improving social partnership, promoting decent work principles, and strengthening the organization’s financial and human resources.
"Our main task is to enlarge our membership base. This automatically addresses our financial stability and need for new members. To achieve this, we must offer union members new services. We should go further beyond traditional concerns like wages, workplace safety, and labor conditions and draw attention to other ones, like life insurance, auto and home insurance, legal services, and material support for all family members, and etc. It is this non-traditional package of additional services that has become a powerful method to motivate for union membership in Western countries today. Our challenges are even broader," emphasized Mashkenov in his report.
Margarita Usova, Deputy General Secretary of the General Confederation of Trade Unions, noted in her welcoming remarks that since its founding, the Confederation of Labor of Kazakhstan has remained true to trade union ideology.
"The Confederation highly values its independence. Your consistent and firm stance ensures active and effective protection of workers’ rights, making a significant contribution to social justice and improving living standards in Kazakhstan," Usova stated.
She also congratulated Congress delegates on achieving one of the CLK’s strategic goals: the ratification of ILO Convention No. 131 on Minimum Wage Fixing by the Mazhilis (lower house of the Parliament of Kazakhstan).
"The Confederation has persistently and determinedly pursued this goal at the state level. The ratification of the ILO convention just before the Congress is symbolic. It demonstrates that the CLK’s relentless efforts lead to tangible, concrete results for the people. Your work directly impacts the quality of life for millions of citizens of the Republic!" Usova underscored.
GCTU News
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Viktor Pinsky: GCTU Should Play a Leading Role in Organizing Trade Union Education in the CIS
Viktor Pinsky, Secretary General of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU), believes that the GCTU should take a leading role in developing a system for training, retraining, and upgrading the skills of personnel, exchanging experiences, and educating leaders and trade union activists across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
"We already have successful experience in organizing trade union education. This year over 400 people from six countries participated in the GCTU’s first two educational programs. The idea to launch such programs came directly from the requests of our member organizations. Internships are another in-demand format, especially among young people. They provide an opportunity to personally visit international organizations and see their work from the inside," said Viktor Pinsky.
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For trade unions, March 8 is not just a day of spring and renewal.
For trade unions, March 8 is not just a day of spring and renewal.
For trade unions, March 8 is not merely a day of spring and renewal. Above all, it is an opportunity to once again reflect on the role of women in the world of work and in global development as a whole. Today, women perform 55% of the world’s total labor. They work longer hours than men—by 6 to 13 hours per week—and still earn less: on average, women’s wages amount to 66–84% of men’s wages, depending on the country. There is objective evidence that the more a country values women’s labor and the smaller the gender pay gap, the more developed its economy. A special issue is the “invisibility” of women’s domestic and, as experts call it, reproductive labor. This is why trade unions should continue to fight for justice for working women.
I congratulate all women of the CIS, my colleagues in the parliamentary corps, and women in trade unions on International Women’s Day. I wish you justice, decent work, success, and prosperity!
Viktor Pinsky
General Secretary of the General Confederation of Trade Unions, Member of the State Duma
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General Confederation of Trade Unions Proposes Securing Trade Union Rights in Enterprise Bankruptcy
General Confederation of Trade Unions Proposes Securing Trade Union Rights in Enterprise Bankruptcy
The General Confederation of Trade Unions’ (GCTU) proposals are reflected in the draft CIS model law “On Cross-Border Insolvency and Bankruptcy.”
Trade unions must have the right to represent and protect workers’ interests in the bankruptcy of international companies, according to Viktor Pinsky, Member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and General Secretary of the GCTU.