Will you gain your rights in struggle?

The congress delegates have been unanimous: relations on the Kazakhstani market of labour can be called feudal, and the labour conditions are slavery. Discrimination in salary payment by foreign companies, breaches of agreements, and sometimes a complete absence of them, the lack of social guarantees, insurances, the disregard towards safety rules, a wish to save "on people" - such are typical features of the modern employer. The worker is deprived, humiliated, and unprotected by the law. The Confederation of Labour is going to rectify this situation and recover the past strength of trade unions in defence of the workers rights.

Recently four Kazakh expatriate workers, who had come to their Motherland seeking better fortune died in Astana. They simply fell into an elevator pit because they couldn't hold two hundred kilogramme barrels… A labour inspection commission issued a resolution: "an unsatisfactory organisation of labour has been the main reason of the tragedy". Currently the materials are transferred to investigating authorities, which, actually, does not mean that they will appear in court at all.

In February two accidents took place on East Kazakhstan sites of "Kazakhmys" corporation. Two Almaty workers found by an employer at Seifullin Ave have been seriously injured and require long medical treatment. Karaganda, Atyrau, then Irtysh and Beloussov mined… The geography can be extended further and further.

Each year more than ten thousand industrial incidents take place in the republic, around 600 people die. Only last year 60 of them were killed on construction sites. But these are only approximate figures - precise statistics are lacking, because it's impossible to follow it - many people work illegally and, even when they are injured, the don't go to anywhere - neither to controlling authorities (about which they sometimes don't know anything), nor to the police (of which they are afraid). Therefore the employer has a luxurious opportunity of exploiting the super-cheap, and sometimes even free workforce with huge profits.

It is well-known that the unemployment dictates its own harsh conditions. Our citizens are ready to work anywhere on whatever conditions. There is a big number of experienced workers in Kazakhstan, who know their trade very well - miners, drift miners, electricians, fitters... one can list a lot of them. But why the hell these people die - and they die more and more often? Why it doesn't worry our society at all? Where are pickets, demos? The industrial injuries have become an ordinary phenomenon. Nobody is alarmed by the fact that for example 45 persons were injured in 2001 on "Kazakhmys" sites, of which 9 died, 12 were mutilated, in 2002 there were 8 dead and 16 injured, and in 2003 - there were seven deaths… And all this because of insufficient safety measures on the part of the employer.

When the law "On labour" was passed lawyers and human rights defenders called it subjective and unreasoned. In their view, the main mistake of the document, no matter how paradoxical it sounds, is its main concept. The employer is provided with full support of the state, the worker is reduced to a mute being without any rights.

The norms of the law give us reason to purport that the parties of labour relations - the worker and the employer - find themselves on unequal positions from the very beginning. For instance, the item 1, article 75, of the law says: "Norms of labour (output quotas, in-service time) are the measure of labour inputs and are established for workers in accordance with the achieved level of technique, technology, organisation of labour". Looks right. But a reasonable question appears: who concretely will define this level and in the end establish the required norms? Well, the "employer" will, the law responds. As per the item 2 of the same article, the " introduction, replacement and revision of labour norms are conducted by the employer". That is he gets hold of such life important things as the length of working day, the work load. It appears that the employer has a right to squeeze all life juices from his employees, as a classical type of capitalist? Yes. If you don't like it - good bye. Others, who want a job and agree for everything are found easily.

The unemployment takes on a threatening shape. According to the International Labour Organisation, the number of unemployed in Kazakhstan makes 20 per cent of the able-bodied population, therefore your job will not be vacant for long.

There aren't irreplaceable ones - employers especially love this sentence and they use it on many occasions. Judges already know: workers have almost completely stopped lawsuits against the employers. Only the most desperate ones fight for justice, risking their health. The state withdrew itself from solving problems of workers and peasants, so it is nearly impossible for them to act against their employer. He acts as per the law that gives him unprecedented authorities. It says nothing about any state duties or standards that he has to follow. Thus, all our industrial production becomes more and more dangerous for health and life.

Moreover, for the majority of those, who organise and manage production it is much easier to pay a fine, which is ridiculous in comparison with the profit, rather than take care about safety, provide normal conditions for labour. And here another facet of the problem arises, about which nobody speaks now: the moral one. A man, heading construction or a plantation, completely doesn't care about conditions, in which his "wage slaves" work. The most profitable thing is to employ illegal migrants, who can hardly speak Russian. Last autumn a farmer employed several farms hands in Abai district, Karaganda oblast, promising supportable conditions to them, but in fact he took them to a remote place, humiliated them, held them cold and hungry, and eventually killed one of them. If it was not for the fear of victim's workmate, the crime would still remained an unsolved case.

In total around 20 per cent of workers in the country are employed on harmful and hazardous works (I repeat, the information is quite conditional, because the majority of "wage slaves" work illegally - they are simply hidden from labour inspectors). And inspections themselves take place once a year - there's not enough personnel for more. For instance, only 19 'harsh' inspectors work in Almaty department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection: they might be not allowed to a venture territory after 18 PM or simply be told to piss off after 24 PM. If an inspector discovers apparent breaches of safety rules, he will draw up an act. That's it. And the most unscrupulous exploitation goes on raging. The law allows the employer to introduce overtime without any limits during one week, one month, one year. True, on worker's consent. But in exclusive cases even this consent is not needed (article 51 of the law "On labour"). Who defines the "exclusiveness" is clear without any comments. Will there be people unsatisfied with the working day? Hardly likely: there is the unemployment ready to poke its finger on you. Your boss can make you work not only 20 hours a day, but also without days off, breaks, or going to toilet on perfectly legal bases.

… Tens of various LLP, private venture and the like regularly violate the law "On labour". Even a superficial analysis of accidents in small business shows that the majority of them occurs during night shifts. Will the new confederation be able to save people from burns, fractures, injuries, deaths?

"One body is nobody", - so the heads of reanimated organ say. It is difficult to disagree with them, but we would do well if we first look at employers and make them obey the law…