Putin addresses the 7th Congress of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions
Vladimir Putin's introductory remarks:
Mr Shmakov (to Mikhail Shmakov, the head of the FNPR), ladies and gentlemen,
You could not have chosen a better venue for a trade union event. Mr Shmakov, perhaps you don't need the Hall of Columns of the House of Trade Unions any more? Just let me know, we will help any way we can. But speaking seriously, this is really an appropriate venue.
To begin with, I would like to congratulate you on the opening of the 7th Congress of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia. Thank you for inviting me to attend this event and address such a large and representative audience. I would also like to call your attention to the fact that the trade union congress is the year's first major public forum in this country, on which I also congratulate you. It is logical and symbolical that we can start 2011 with a serious conversation about social policy and a discussion of matters that concern the interests and, without exaggeration, the fates of millions of our people.
I suggest we summarise certain aspects of our teamwork today, and talk about the future. I would like to note that it was literally on New Year's Eve that the general agreement was signed for 2011-2013 between trade unions, employers' organisations and the federal government. The drafting of this document demanded substantial efforts of all participants, and I greatly appreciate what has been done.
The principles and ideas of the agreement will allow us to carry on the policy that envisages the creation of a civilised labour market, enhanced efficiency of industry and public services, higher living standards, and improving labour remuneration and the pension system.
Importantly, we have smooth and well-tested tools of regulating employment relations, and of social partnership. This is essential for any country, especially one with a transition economy. Such tools help solve problems through negotiations and compromise, and allow consideration for mutual interests and existing opportunities, which is of great importance. This cooperation was our source of strength during the global economic crisis.
I cannot but agree with what Mr Shmakov said here about the crisis and how we passed through its peak.
It is no exaggeration to say that trade unions were among the authors of the Russian government's anti-crisis plan, and I have firsthand knowledge of that. We had so many debates but we always heard each other out and retained constructive relations between all participants of social partnership. It was evident that all the parties involved were aware of the challenges and acted very responsibly. As a result, when the crisis was at its peak, we prevented the worst case scenario, which had ample chances of coming true because Russia had to deal with the global financial crisis, plummeting prices for its main exports, market shrinkage and risks for the national banking system.
However, we did not allow the downturn to destroy our economy and social services. There were no mass bankruptcies of our financial institutions, as was the case in 1998, and no mass bankruptcies of manufacturing companies. We helped people retain money in their bank accounts, and supported many who had problems with mortgage payments. We fought rampant unemployment consistently and, on the whole, with success. We did everything for this country not to return to humiliating months-long wage, pension and military pay arrears that we had seen on a mass scale in the past. As of December 1, 2010, overall national wage arrears made 3.2 billion roubles, less than 1% of monthly gross wages, and 63% less than on April 1, 2007, when debts were at their peak.
Not that we should rest on our laurels. It is our duty to regard these figures as the background for the problems of every individual and every business. So we will continue to monitor the situation as before, and use our administrative tools to respond to every instance of back wages.
Current financial and economic problems in the manufacturing sector certainly should not be solved by keeping back honest earnings. In this, we rely on close contact with trade union organisations and on employers' responsibility.
We came through an unprecedentedly hard and deep-going crisis, whose aftermath could not but have an effect on people's lives. The production downswing made many companies cut wages and personnel, shift to part-time employment schemes, and send staff on forced leave. This is the reality we have been forced to face, and we will not turn a blind eye to it in the future.
In its cooperation with trade unions, the government made it a point to respond promptly to the situation in industries, businesses and single-industry cities. We had to adopt an individual approach in some cases and I think that we were right to do so if other methods were not effective. That was the case, for instance, in Pikalyovo, a small town in the Leningrad Region, the AVTOVAZ and KAMAZ car plants, the space, steel and coal industries, and agriculture. Our decisions aimed to support the people and retain as many jobs as possible.
I would like to say in this connection that the employment programme involved more than 4 million people. A majority of them kept their jobs or got new ones, or retrained. Last year alone we helped more than 172,000 people to start their own businesses. All told, more than 1.2 million jobs were created or restored last year, and general unemployment decreased from 9.2% of the workforce to 6.8%, though this is also much.
That is why we intend to continue our active effort to revive the labour market. We have earmarked 105 billion roubles from this year's federal budget for social support of the unemployed and employment programmes with the emphasis not just on employment but on upgrading employees' qualifications and providing opportunities for people to acquire new skills and professions that are in high demand on the labour market.
Programmes for the development of 35 single-industry towns were launched last year. Another 15 such cities and towns will receive financial aid this year. Comprehensive investment plans are being drawn to modernise these cities, including the establishment of industrial parks and the infrastructure for small and high-tech businesses.
We intend to create no fewer than 200,000 new jobs in single-industry towns by 2015 and so reduce their average registered unemployment from present-day 4.5% to 2% in 2015.
The promotion of market demand and targeted support of companies made it possible for us to revive the real sector – particularly the car industry, as I have said. The crisis hit it possibly harder than any other Russian industry. At a certain point, its output fell by 60%. There was a feeling that the industry was doomed and our car plants will never rise again. Many in this audience may know that there were proposals to wind up the industry and shift entirely to car imports.
However, as I would like to remind you, car assembly lines alone employ about 600,000 workers in this country, and roughly 3 million people are employed in related industries. How many people is that, considering workers' families. Could we abandon them and never give another thought to their children's future? We certainly could not. As we see now, the car industry is regaining its pre-crisis rates and has retained the potential for progress. Car output doubled last year. What matters even more, the industry has started modernisation – large-scale, comprehensive planned modernisation.
We have also provided support to the construction industry from the budget and through ambitious housing programmes. The state became the main player in the housing market by investing over a trillion roubles in it. We have saved several hundred thousand construction jobs and made sizeable progress in solving the housing problems of several population groups – war veterans, military personnel, people living in the Far North, and families with children.
I would like to stress that, unlike many other countries, we did not cut social programmes. We did not go back on any social obligation the state took on in the previous years. You have seen how our friends and neighbours in Europe and other parts of the world are raising the pension age. To tell you the truth, they are patching up the budget deficit by cutting wages in the public sector and by laying off personnel, while we have not cut publically funded salaries, pensions and benefits. On the contrary, we have increased these government expenditures, and we have increased them spectacularly. In particular, all children's benefits were increased by 1% last year. We also implemented an ambitious reform of the pension system in 2010. The average occupational pension grew by close to 45% throughout the year.
We intend to further improve the pension system to the benefit of present-day pensioners and people who are earning their future pensions. The amount of insurance fees should reflect more fairly the future pension, and the accumulation part of the pension system should work to greater effect. That is our goal.
more to be posted soon...
источник новости: http://premier.gov.ru/eng/events/news/13844/
