International Labor Organization marks 90 years on background of sweeping global economic crisis

The Moldovan branch of the International Labor Organization (ILO) held a festive sitting on Wednesday in the headquarters of the Economy and Commerce Ministry to mark the 90th anniversary since its constitution, Info-Prim Neo report. ILO is a UN agency consisting from representatives of governments, trade union and employers organizations, which are part of a global dialogue for decent work and fair globalization. Deputy minister for economy and trade, Sergiu Sainciuc, has said Moldova has ratified 38 conventions of this organization. “It's one thing when we adjust the national legislation to the international standards, but, in fact, it's more difficult, more responsible to enforce the international standards,” the deputy minister said. “The three-party dialogue attended by the government, the trade union and the employers organizations has a key role in terms of tackling the economic crisis and in developing measures to fight the crisis,” said the chairman of of the Trade Unions National Confederation from Moldova, Leonid Manea. Leonid Cerescu, the chairman of the Employers Confederation, spoke about the obstacles the Moldovan employers face. “Lacking experience and tradition in promoting their image, alongside the employers' underdeveloped culture, the employers associations have been and are perceived as a weak link in the tripartite social dialogue. Many businesspeople and the whole society are not still aware of the role of the employers organizations, and they still cope with being poorly recognized,” Leonid Cerescu said. Moldova is an ILO member since 1991. ILO offers this country assistance shaped as Country Programs on Decent Work. Recently, the second program of this kind started for the period 2008 to 2011. Concretely, ILO provides legal expertise, technical and logistical assistance and auditing. “We mark this anniversary in a moment of profound economic and social change, as the unemployment is growing, businesses close, the labor conditions worsen and the right to work is undermined, alongside growing unfairness, poverty and incertitude,” ILO's director general Juan Somavia is quoted as saying in a release of the International Labor Organization.