Social Builders House of Moldova could be created by next summer

The Social Builders House (SBH) of Moldova could be set up by the summer of 2009, considers Grigore Popa, the general director of the Employers Federation of Builders, Road Workers and Producers of Building Materials “Condrumat”. Grigore Popa has told Info-Prim Neo that the bill providing for the foundation of the Social Builders House was submitted to the relevant ministries for approval. Afterward, it must be adopted by the Parliament. The Social Builders House of Moldova will be different from the similar institutions existing in Romania by the organizational form. “The joining of the SBH in Romania is optional, but we want this partnership to be mandatory for the employees working in the construction sector for a period of at least 4-5 years,” Grigore Popa said. According to the quoted source, the compulsoriness is aimed at avoiding work accidents. There could be also created a pension fund for the persons working in the field. Under the bill, if unable to work, the construction worker will be paid about 75% of the monthly average salary. The Social Builders House will train specialists for the construction industry at the request of the employers. Pavel Caba, the president of the Federation “Condrumat”, hopes that the institution will be created even before the legislative initiative is approved. He said that the law allows creating the SBH with the status of NGO. When the bill is adopted, the institution’s status could be changed, Caba said. If a consensus over the establishment of the SBH is reached, the construction companies, employees and beneficiaries of the erected buildings will have to pay contributions. According to Pavel Caba, the employers’ contribution will be equal to one tariff salary of the first category for half a year. “If the tariff salary is 1,000 lei and there are 100 employees, the employer will have to transfer 100,000 lei to the SBH in the first half of year,” Caba said. The investor’s contribution will be 0.05% of the expenditure estimate of the constructed building, while the workers will contribute 1% of the salary during half a year. While on a working visit to Chisinau this April, Laurentiu Plosceanu, the president of the Romanian Association of Building Contractors (ARACO) and of the SBH of Romania, said that the initial aim of the project was to finance the construction workers during winter. In other words, these workers remained employed and were paid from a parity source alternative to the unemployment fund. During ten years of activity, the SBH has identified another opportunities. Presently, the partners can benefit from guarantee letters for taking part in auctions during working periods, from the funds that they have in the House. On July 15 and 16, the social partners from the construction sector of Moldova had participated in Bucharest in the festivities organized to celebrate ten years of activity of the Social Builders House of Romania. During the visit, representatives of the Romanian SBH agreed to sign a cooperation agreement with partners from Moldova so as to hasten the foundation of the Social Builders House in Chisinau.