Policy and practice of the government and trade unions in the Samara region concerning low pay and bad working conditions
1. The political environment of trade-union activity in the region
The political regime in Samara Oblastsince the beginning of the 90s has been permanentlyled by the governor K.Titov and is characterized by a clear pro-market orientation. The regional authorities identify their strategic purpose as a significant improvement in the quality of life of the population, bringing it into correspondence with the huge potential of the region, reduction in the level of poverty, improvement of the social state of health of society. Thus the governor articulates the task - to be oriented not to the average level established in the country, but to the best, both in Russia and abroad.[1]The main mechanism for increasing the standard of living of the population is recognized to be economic growth, therefore the main emphasis is on the attraction of large-scale investments, formation of a favorable climate for business and creation of new jobs. Not being involved in the direct regulation of wages in the private sector, the authorities, nevertheless, show a purposeful interest in this - since 1995 monitoring the social-labour sphere in the region has been conducted.
Following its liberal economic strategy, the regional authorities assignthe task of increasing wages in the real sector of the economy to employers and trade unions, through the mechanism of collective agreements and implementation of the requirements of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation.[2] Thus the Governor has called employers of the region to achieve in 2006-2008 a minimum level of wages 3-5 times the subsistence minimum.[3]
The regulation of the pay of workers of organizations financed from the regional budget, and social support of needy layers of the populationfall within the sphere of responsibility of the regional authorities. The task is setof achieving an average pay of state employees that is more than double thesubsistence minimumby 2008. The achievement of this task goes in two main directions. On the one hand, the regional authorities strictly carry out the general federal program of increasingpay rates[4] and payments within the framework of national projects. On the other hand, additional opportunities from the regional budget will be involved. Since 1999 there has been a practice of regional bonuses for underpaid categories of workers from the regional budget[5]. As a result the rate of pay of the first grade on the public sector pay scale is 1.6 times the general federal level. Inter-budgetary relationsin the region are so constructed that all municipalities have kept a 25% additional bonus on the pay rates of state employees working in the countryside.
The overall result of this regional Policy is that Samara Oblasthas one of the highest standards of living in the Russian Federation. There has been a marked tendency for the nominal monthly average pay to increase. So, in 2005 in comparison with 2004 monthly average pay has increased by 21.8 %, to reach 7666 roubles ($256). The rate of growth of real wages (in view of inflation) is substantially less, but it is also positive (+9.3 %). The proportion who are paid less than the subsistence minimum was reduced from 29% in 2004 to 23% in 2005. As a result of effective work of the interdepartmental commission over the last 3 years the total amount of wage debts has decreased 3 times. Nevertheless, the total amount of unpaid wages on 1.01.2006 was 125.1 million roubles. Wage debts are concentrated in the private sector. Budgetary debts (no more than 1-5 % of the total amount) arise from time to time because of problems of municipal budgets of particular territories. The level of the registered unemployment in the region from January to December 2005 has decreased from 2.1 to 1.7 %.
System of bodies for the regulation of social-labour relations
The federal level is represented by the State labour inspectorate which monitors the observance of labour legislation across the territory of the region. At the level of regional enforcement authorities, the development of economic strategy and policy in the field of employment and wages is in the competence of the Ministry of Economics, Investments and Trade of the Government of Samara Oblast. Central Labour Administration(GUT) in the structure of the Ministry of Humanitarian and Social Development[6] plays an especially instrumental role, reduced to the substantiation and documentary-normative support for the political initiatives of the Governor and the Government ofSamara Oblast. Besides this, organizational support of the work of the regional tripartite commission is assigned to the staffof GUT.
Apart from this, the Government of Samara Oblasthas interdepartmental commissions which work on the basis of the principles of social partnership. They unite the efforts of administrative structures of the federal, regional and municipal levels, law enforcement bodies, Federation of trade unions of Samara region(FPSO) and the Union of employers of Samara oblast(SPSO). The commission on the adoption of measures for the repayment of wage debts on the territory of the region[7] analyzes the state of wage debts, examines these materials with the invitation of the heads of organizations, supervises the implementation of decisions on the repayment of debts. Its sessions are held not less often than once every two months. Thetask of the Interdepartmental commission onhealth and safety[8]is the implementation of the uniform state policy in the sphere of health and safety and increasingthe efficiencyof the management ofhealth and safety in Samara Oblast. Meetings take place not less often than twice a year. Under the aegis of this commission the ‘Comprehensivetargeted program of improvement of working conditions and health and safety in Samara regionfor 2004 – 2006’ is implemented.[9]It includes measures for the organizational-methodical andinformationprovision and propagation onhealth and safety, training and improvement of professional health and safetyskills. For 2004-2005 itwas financed in full.
Forms of interaction with trade unions
The main platform for realization of social dialogue between trade unions, employers and regional authorities is the Regional Tripartite Commission which has existedsince 1997.[10] Regional tripartite agreements are the main framework document determining the basic reference points of increasing the level of wages in the public and private sectors of the economy and fixing mutual voluntary obligations of the parties in their achievement. Tripartite Commissions still operate in only 12 municipalities out of 37 (including in the largest cities of the region – Samara and Tolyatti). In this parameter the regionlags significantly behind many other regions.
The basic vector of interaction of the regional authorities with the trade unions is cooperation as both, by and large, are dealing with acommon strategic task – increase of the standard of living of the population. This objectively creates a mutual interest and a common field of action. Besides for the authorities it is important to maintain the image of a successful, dynamic and socially stable region, that also creates a point of contact. Besides participation in the tripartite negotiating process, the trade unions are included in the activity of the already mentioned interdepartmental commissions, and also have the right of legislative initiative at the level of the Provincial Duma[11]. Generally constructive relationsare typically preserved by the domination of the authorities. Trade unions do not manage to achieve the full performance by the administration of its obligations within the framework of the tripartite agreement, the governor frequently blocks their legislative initiatives. There is a serious problem of the opacity of decision-making in the financing of payments in the public sector. The trade unions see the main way of eliminating these contradictions as being byincreasing their weight in social dialogue by strengthening the systematic work of the apparatus of the federation, and, mainly, through the expansion of trade-union membership and activization of the work of all parts of the trade-union structure.
2. Strategy and tactics ofthe Federation of trade unions of Samara region
The structure of the Federation of trade unions of Samara region(FPSO) consists of 24 branch regional trade union organisationsand 8 large primary organizations. The federation unites 3.5 thousand primary organizations representing the interests of almost 900 thousand workers. FPSOconstructsits policy according to the general line of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR). The strategic directions of activity for the period till 2010 are to increase the motivation of trade-union membership, consolidate the protection of labour rights and the social and economic interests of members of the trade union and the further development of the system of social partnership[12]. In the sphere of social-labour relations the emphasis is put on the activization of the conclusion of agreements at all levels and collective agreements. It has been decided by 2008 to create coordinating councils of trade unions to conducting tripartite negotiations in all municipalities and annually to increase the number of collective agreements concluded in each industry bynot lessthan 5%. The primary goal by way of increase of the standard of living is an increase in average wages by 3-5 times in relation to thesubsistence minimumwhile increasingtheir constant component (salary, tariff) up to 70 %. In the field of health and safety - to continue work of technical inspection of the work which is carried out by the trade-union control over this sphere in interaction with state inspection and control bodies.
Interaction of trade unions within the framework of the federation is carried out through a system of collegial bodies (FPSO Council, FPSO Executive committee, meetings of heads of the member organizations). Questions of regulation of social-labour relationsare constantly at the center of attention. Six sessions of the collegial bodies of the federation were devoted to this theme in 2005 alone. Thecoordination of this sphere is the responsibility of the FPSODepartment of Social-Labour Relations whose work has become increasingly systematic over the last 4-5 years. Monitoring of wages and the situation with wage debts is carried out on the basis of state statisticalmaterials and the data of regional branch union committees, including tracking the situation in particular enterprises. As FPSOunites regional branch trade unions, its role in collective agreementregulation at the primary level is reduced to the analysis of the overall situation and rendering methodical help. After the adoption of the new Labour Code, federation staff developed recommendations regarding the contents of collective agreements for primary organisations. Periodically, on the basis of generalization of the experience of different organizations, they prepare proposals for the contentof collective agreementsregarding social guarantees. As a whole, there has been a positive dynamic to the conclusion of collective agreements. The coverage of collective agreements in 2003 amounted to 82 %, 2004 was 86.8 %, and for 2005 was 91.4 %.[13]
Activity in the field of health and safety and the protection of labour rights is carried out within the framework of the technical and legal labour inspectorateof FPSO. Actually the system of trade-union control over the sphere of health and safetywhich was destroyed in the early 1990s has been recreated during 1998-2002. Now the structure of the FPSOtechnical labour inspectorate includes 28 inspectors (3 of them work in the apparatus of the federation), and 20 of 32 member organizations havelabour inspectors on their staff. At the enterprises there are almost with 3.5 thousand health and safetycommissions and 13 thousandhealth and safetyrepresentatives. Following the directions ofFNPR, a labour law inspectorate for the control of observance of labour legislation and protection of the rights of workers has been createdinthe federation. FPSOis trying to create trade-union labour law inspectorates in member organizations in view of the Decision of the FPSO Council of 25.03.2004.
In interaction with authorities the emphasis is put on the negotiating process,though mass protest actions remain in the arsenal of the regional trade unions, but are used extremely seldom. In recent years FPSOhas participated only in the all-Russian actions initiated by FNPR. Staff of the federation concentrate their basic efforts on social dialogue within the framework of the regional tripartite commission. Their competence includes also representation in the city tripartite commission of Samara. Constant lobbying on questions of wages occurs in the above-mentioned interdepartmental commissions where representatives of the federation are included. Cooperation agreements are made with the State labour inspectorate, regional branches of the Pension fund and social insuranceFund, the management of the employment service and with Departments of the regional government. Cooperation with the legislativeauthorities of the region (the Provincial Duma) is developing.
Trade unions consider the main achievements of recent years as being their ability to achieve the establishment of a regional addition to the public sector salary scaleand to keep this practice till now. In connection with the change of the powers of municipal authorities according to the federal law №131, in a number of municipalities in Samara Oblast in 2005,the 25% extra payment for state employees working in the countryside came under threat of cancellation. FPSOtogether with the regional branch committees of the public sector unions managed to make amendments to the regional law[14] and to keep the extra payment. In 2004-2005 the federation achieved inclusion in the regional budget of funds for health-improvement forpublic sectorworkers.
The trade unions regard the Regional Tripartite Agreementfor 2003-2005 as marking serious progress. Employers have undertaken the obligation in 2005 to bring the minimum wages up to 100% of thesubsistence minimum. For state employees there is an obligation in 2005 to raise the minimum wage to 85% of thesubsistence minimum. The union of employers has coped with its obligations[15]. Theregional authorities have clearly not succeeded, judging by the fact that in the public sector in the first half of 200556% of workers received pay belowthesubsistence minimum[16]. A basic contradiction with the authoritiesconcerning budgetary obligations has also arisen in discussion of the Agreement for 2006-2008. The trade unions tried to persuadethe authorities to make a more significant increase in the minimum wageand the salaries of state employees as a whole in comparison with the general federal increase. However, the authorities declared, that they have no possibility of setting the minimum wage at half the subsistence minimum (1860 roubles). Trade unions did not manage to getany nominal parameters of increaseat allinto the Agreement. The administration has only undertakenan obligation to increase the real pay of state employees by 1.5 timeswithin 3 years. The intrigue around the conclusion of the regional Agreement for 2006-2008, which should have been signed by 9.02.2006, is not yet finished. At a level of the coordinators of the sides a variant has been prepared in which the employers have undertaken during the period of action of the Agreement annually to increase the minimumpay to a level of 105 % of the adultsubsistence minimum. The Samara city tripartite agreement has been signed on such conditions. However, the governor has sharply interfered with the negotiating process and has demanded that employers should undertake to increase the minimumpay to 3-5 times thesubsistence minimum, as he had it(he) earlier declared publicly. The trade unions consider this a populist demand, excessive for many employers. The situation presumably should be resolved at the beginning of April.
The trade union federation still uses its right of legislative initiative at the level of the provincial parliament[17] with variable success. FPSO has spent three years trying to prove the need for a regional law on social partnership, referring to the experience of 69 subjects of the federation. But it has been blocked by the legal management of the administration, motivated by the "absence of a subject of legal regulation”. It has not managed to getadopted bills «Onan agreed standard of living of the population», «On the minimum wage in territory Samara Oblast» and «On a staged approach of the minimum wage to the subsistence minimum in the territoryof Samara Oblast». A success of the trade unions in lawmaking has been the decision on tax privileges for health-improvement establishments for 2005.[18] The only law developed by FPSOwhich has been accepted, in December 2005 by the Provincial Duma,was «On the provision of permits for sanatorium treatment for public sectorworkers of Samara Oblast». On the basis of this law the budgetary funds allocated forthe health-improvement of state employeeswill now be distributedwith the participation of the trade unions.
3. Regionalcommittee of the trade unions of healthservice workers of Samara region
The regional committee of the trade union of health service workers of Samara region, unites 213 primary organizations which cover 68% of those employed in the branch and operates in a rather friendly environment which is characterized by quite considerable attention paid by the Governor to problems of public health services and the presence of a strong social partner at the level of the region in the form of the Ministry of Health of Samara Oblast. The reform of public health services in the regionhas been proceeding since 1988 and the situation with wages in the sphere of public health services is quite successful. In particular, from the beginning of 2005 there have been no wage debtsin the branch, since 2004 workers of the non-productive sphere (public health services, education, culture) have been paid a supplement from the regional budget to the tariff rates ofgrades 1 to 9 (the most underpaid workers),[19] there has been an additional25% payment to staff living and working in the countryside and other kinds of additional payments. Nevertheless, the average level of pay in the public health services remains rather low – in 2005 it was 5024 roubles ($167), that is 35 % lower than the average for the region.
On the whole, the situation with prospects for the growth of wages is rather vague, and even experts cannot give precise forecasts yet. It is connected both to changes in the system of payment under law 122[20], and, mostly, with the beginning of the realization of national projects in the sphere of public health services. The governor and the Government of the region pay special attention to this project. In particular, additional payments (additions to the federal) are stipulated from regional budget funds for workers in primary public health services and from January 2006 local therapists, generalpractitioners, pediatricians and the middle level medical personnel working with them have started to receive additional payments[21]. Diagnostic equipment for out-patient and polyclinic establishments will also be bought from the regional budget.[22]