On September 28, the VI Assembly of the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (ATUC) was held.
First, the participants of the Assembly commemorated the dear memory of our martyrs who died for the Motherland with a minute’s silence.
The agenda of the Assembly included “Country Program on Decent Labor of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the role of trade unions”, as well as organizational and current issues.
The issues put on the agenda were widely discussed and decisions were made.
Musa Mirzayev, chairman of the Republican Committee of Trade Union of workers of Electric Power Industry and Electrotechnical industry, and Gazanfar Abdullayev, chairman of the Council of Trade Unions of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic were elected deputy chairmen of ATUC by the relevant decision.
The assembly heard the report of ATUC Chairman, Milli Mejlis deputy Sattar Mohbaliyev on “Country Program on Decent Labor of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the role of trade unions”.
The chairman of the ATUC noted that the socio-economic reforms carried out in our country under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev created a reliable foundation for improving the well-being of the population: “over the past five years, the average monthly salary in our country increased 1.7 times from 2018 to 544.6 manat in the first half of 2023 to 921.9 manat, Protection of socio-economic rights of trade union members is an important issue for us, which is always on the agenda. The last general collective agreement we concluded included the creation of decent jobs, decent wages, youth employment, gender equality in 2023-2025, etc. special attention has been paid to the issues.”
“We pay special attention to cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO). Azerbaijan joined 59 ILO Conventions. Currently, with the participation of the ILO and ATUC, the final work is underway on the preparation of a new program covering 2024-2028. ATUC also pays particular attention to employment issues. In 2021-2023, 600 thousand Manats were transferred to the Employment Agency to help self-employment. As a result, in 2022, more than 16 thousand unemployed were involved in self-employment programs. With the support of the ILO, a Tripartite Commission on economic and social issues was created in our country. As a result of the commission’s activities, changes have been made to the labor legislation, important steps have been taken to bring the legal framework in line with relevant international standards and norms,” Sattar Mohbaliyev said.
According to him, most of ATUC’s numerous proposals were taken into account in the project” Azerbaijan’s Decent Work Country Program for 2024-2028“: “these proposals were the subject of discussion at conferences and seminars with the support of the ILO, and were welcomed by international experts. Considering the country’s program, we believe that decent work should be one of the main goals of Azerbaijan’s economic and social policy. Taking into account the current situation in the sectors corresponding to the ILO mandate and comparative advantage areas, appropriate steps should be taken to promote decent labor opportunities and quality jobs for inclusive growth, improve social protection and working conditions, strengthen labor management and social dialogue mechanisms”.
The chairman of the Confederation stressed that in the project of the country’s program, there are efforts to harmonize payments for the protection of illness, motherhood and unemployment insurance with the provisions of the ILO Convention No. 102: “we believe that work on monitoring informal employment in this area should be continued, stimulating mechanisms should be created to legalize the activities After the adoption of the program, the obligations of trade unions will arise in its implementation. Our employees should pay attention to raising awareness of labor rights among employees. They should also pay special attention to the organization of social protection of vulnerable groups engaged in small and medium-sized enterprises and informal economy, primarily women, families of martyrs, veterans, veterans of the Patriotic War, youth”.
Sattar Mohbaliyev added that priority should be given to the strengthening of mutual relations between trade unions, and more attention should be paid to the creation of trade unions in small and medium-sized enterprises: “Mutual cooperation with social partners in the field of promoting and preparing social dialogue and collective agreements, ensuring gender equality and preventing discrimination should also be strengthened. Recommendation No. 204 of ILO “Transition from Informal Economy to Formal Economy” should be promoted and cooperation with ILO should be continued in this area. AHIK will play an active role in the preparation of the project of the “Country Program on Decent Labor of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2024-2028”, as well as in its implementation after its adoption.
Chairman of Trade Union Republican Committee of Azerbaijan oil and gas industry workers Jahangir Aliyev, Chairman of Salyan District Committee of Free Trade Union Republican Committee of Education Workers Yagut Alasgarova, deputy chairman of Trade Union Republican Committee of State Departments and Public Service Workers Abulfaz Mehdiyev and others made speeches at the assembly.
At the end, the chairman of ATUC gave a number of instructions on in-depth investigation of all appeals addressed to trade unions, timely resolution of all problems raised in accordance with the legislation.