Govt interested in new tripartite agreement--Putin

18.09.2010, 14.18

MOSCOW, September 18 (Itar-Tass) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes that the trade unions should work not only for the growth of wages, but also for the creation of jobs for the skilled personnel and for the formation of a civilized labour market. “Russia is pursuing a policy aimed at the formation of a civilized labour market, including the attraction of workers from abroad. We are discussing and resolving those problems with our partners and neighbours,” Putin said at a meeting of the General Council of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FITU) of Russia here on Saturday. Putin confirmed that “Russia is interested in labour migration to be absolutely legal, in the disappearance of the so-called ‘grey zones,’ which breed crime and corruption.” At the same time, he is positive that “we should help the law-abiding people, who came here to work, to get adapted in Russia, and should protect their labour rights … This is an enormous sphere of activities for trade unions, which have much experience in the settlement of labour conflicts, as well as a strong legal service.” Putin stressed that “the most important problem today is the quality of the economic development.” “It is in line with our common interests to ensure the economic growth mostly as a result of the modernization of production, the creation of effective jobs and the growth of labour productivity. Otherwise Russian enterprises will not be able to remain competitive, and new jobs will be created outside Russia, the way it is taking place in many countries,” Putin believes. Putin suggested that the trade unions “link the fulfilment of production development plans with the creation of jobs for skilled and highly paid workers, because the modernization of enterprises and the manufacture of new products should lead to the growth of wages.” Aside from it, Putin recommended to the trade unions to have a say in the working out of a just structure of wages. “Wages are different for different industries and professions. It is important to establish the correct balance between the permanent tariff part of the wages and the stimulating payments,” he said. Putin reminded that at present “the growth of real wages stands at 4.9 per cent, and of industrial production – at 9.6 per cent. About one million new jobs were created over the past year. Unemployment was reduced to 7 per cent of the economically active population, although the figure for late 2009 was 8.6 per cent.” “The government regards trade unions as a reliable and effective partner. We are interested in the signing as soon as possible of a new general agreement between trade union associations, employers and the government, which would specify the concrete plans of our joint work for 2011-2013,” the Prime Minister stressed. http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15507876&PageNum=0