Employers, Unions disagree on required wage amendments

Employers’ organisations and labour unions haven’t come to an understanding as to the required amendments to the legislation regulating wages and salaries. While the National Confederation of Moldovan Employers (CNPM) recommends the Government to urgently consider a bill providing amendments to laws like the Labour Code and the Salary Law, the unionists claim the draft is biased and neglects the interests of the labour unions. CNPM said in a communique quoted by Info-Prim Neo it regrets that the Government accepted the request of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CNSRM) to exclude from its current agenda the given bill, which, according to employers, provides for the liberalisation of wages in the real sector of the economy, creates conditions for wage raises and harmonisation of employers’ and employees’ interests in the field of labour relations. CNPM qualifies CNSRM’s position on this bill as being inconsistent with its prior commitments assumed under the social partnership between the employers’ organisations and labour unions, said Adrian Axenti, CNPM general manager. The Board of the CNPM tends to believe that the conservation of the current wage system, which contains clear elements of overregulation on the part of the state, reveals the fact that CNSRM cares only to promote the interests of its member organisations and not of the employees. In addition, the employers’ organisations consider as inopportune holding negotiations on 2008 wage hikes with the CNSRM. At the same time, the unionists said they will not give up the idea of continuing negotiations on the minimum salary, as it is not up to CNPM’s willingness to engage in negotiations or not, it is a necessity of the population, of the employees. Petru Chiriac, CNSRM vice president, told Info-Prim Neo the trade unions will insist on higher wages not just for the employees in the production sector, but also in the budget-funded sphere. “The situation where the purchasing power of the persons able to work and the pensioners is much lower than the price of products and services is impermissible”, said Chiriac. Commenting on the bill, Chiriac noted that the proposed amendments exempt employers from the responsibility of consulting the unions when establishing the professional rank of specialists, the qualification of workers, when fixing salaries depending on ranks, which is unallowable as long as the unions are there to defend employees’ interests.