Is it to be continued?
As before the status of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) within the social partnership mechanism remains uncertain The August 17 the leaders of the BKDP and of its affiliates took part in the sitting of the tripartite National Council on Labour and Social Issues (NCLSI). To be more exact, they acted there only as the observers. The point is that in the agenda of this event there was the issue of introducing changes into the NCLSI membership composition.
The BKDP leaders assumed that the question on granting one place in the NCLSI to the independent national union finally will be resolved. The BKDP has been fighting for this legitimate right for almost several years. The head of the department for social and economic activities of the FPB Sergei Sorokin has assured the BKDP Chairman Alexander Yaroshuk in the telephone conversation on the eve of the NCLSI meeting that this question would be decided at the meeting. In his presentation the FPB Chairperson Leonid Kozik informed the NCLSI members that the decision on granting one place in the NLCSI to the BKDP from the quota of the FPB has been adopted. Alexander Yaroshuk requested the FBP leader to present the decision document to him and the rest of the NCLSI members. The decision document was not presented. Then the BKDP leader proposed the NCLSI members to put the issue of restoring the BKDP membership in the NCLSI to the vote. The proposition was rejected. Alexander Yaroshuk regards this situation as the next attempt to imitate the social partnership and to do manipulations with organization. At the same time he assessed this fact as a positive one as the procedure has got moving. Moreover in private talk the FBP leader L.Kozik has promised A.Yaroshuk that the BKDP would get soon the official decision of the FPB Presidium on delegating one place in the NCLSI to the BKDP.
“We proceed from the fact that according to the Constitution and the laws of the country both the FPB and BKDP has absolutely equal legal status as national trade union centres. We do not lay claims to the equal representation in the NCLSI and it would be wrong if we could insist on it since the membership quantities of our organizations are incomparable. We would be satisfied if we could get one place in the NCLSI which is guaranteed to us by the law. It is outside the competence of the FPB to decide whether to grant us the place in the NCLSI or not. It is an exclusive competence of the government. The FPB governing body is to take a decision on dividing the quantity of places in the NCLSI in the following way: 10 places – to the FPB and 1 place – to the BKDP. –« And the FPB should restrain from references that the FPB has let the BKDP have one place from the FPB quota» – underlined the BKDP leader Alexander Yaroshuk.
- «This is exactly the decision the BKDP is waiting for. From our viewpoint such a decision is the only real and legitimate possibility to get the way out. At the same time all the references to the adopted regulations of the work of the NCLSI could be not correct and had no legal grounds. The restoration of BKDP membership in the NCLSI automatically should return the independent union the right to sign General Agreement».
- «In fact, this is the principal meaning of social partnership at the national level both for the FPB and the BKDP»- thinks the leader of the independent trade union centre.
| 29.08.2006 |
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