NEWSLETTER ILO DecentDecent WorkWork Technical Technical Support Support Team Team and and Country OfficeOffice forfor EasternEastern EuropeEurope and and Central Central Asia Asia #11(64)(64) March March 2016 2016 Ufa Hosts First Ever BRICS Labour Ministerial On 25 – 26 January, the city of Ufa, capital of Chairman of the Federation of Independent The Declaration affirms that labour and employ- Bashkortostan, hosted the first ever meeting Trade Unions of Russia; and Alexander Shokhin, ment policies are of great importance for the of ministers of labour and employment of the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists promotion of sustainable growth. The partici- BRICS countries focused on Quality Jobs and and Entrepreneurs. pants acknowledged the essential role of social Inclusive Employment Policies. dialogue and the importance of collective bar- “While in recent decades the BRICS gaining, while also welcoming the contribution countries have been the drivers of the of social partners to the design and implementa- growing “global middle class,” in the tion of labour and employment policies. current environment, continued high rates of economic growth sustaining the According to the Declaration, the formalization middle class cannot be taken for grant- of labour market is a global priority, as it is a ed,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder in his address. “Those of us responsible for employment and social well-being should bear in mind that growth is not the whole story, for high growth does not guarantee decent work, inclusion and equity,” he added. The agenda of the meeting included moderni- zation at the level of enterprises and economic The ILO head emphasized the need for sectors; increasing the productivity of labour; effective public investments in infrastruc- the quality of vocational education and training; ture to boost job creation while addressing the development of professional standards; productivity and economic transformation labour mobility; the promotion of employment concerns. He also noted that another in- services; protection of the rights of workers and strument to create more and better employment priority for the BRICS member states, while the unemployed, including their right to social is enterprise modernization. “There is solid evi- the informal employment hinders the economic security; improving occupational safety and the dence that enterprises attaining higher productiv- performance and affects the potential economic reduction of occupational diseases; the formali- ity through product or process innovations also growth and the efforts to improve the citizens’ zation of employment and others. exhibit higher employment growth,” Ryder said. well-being. “Strategies to facilitate the transi- tion to formality could include incentivizing The programme of the two-day event employers and supporting workers who seek em- included a joint meeting with the social ployment in the formal economy and strength- partners – representatives of workers ening labour inspection and enforcement,” the and employers, which discussed the roles Declaration says. of business and trade unions in creating jobs and providing for other employment As they expressed determination to put greater opportunities. emphasis on formalization of labour markets, the BRICS Ministers welcomed the initiative The meeting in Ufa was addressed by of the Russian Presidency “to develop a well- Maxim Topilin, Minister of Labour and balanced medium-term strategy of labour Social Protection of the Russian Federa- markets formalization,” in line with the ILO tion; Guy Ryder, Director-General of the Recommendation on Transition from the Infor- International Labour Organization; Hans-Horst The participants in the meeting adopted a Decla- mal to the Formal Economy (No. 204) adopted Konkolewsky, General Secretary of the Interna- ration of the Ministers of Labour and Employ- in June, 2015. tional Social Security Association; Keith Hansen, ment of the BRICS countries, which calls for an World Bank Group’s Vice President for Global integrated policy aimed at formalizing the labour The Ministers have agreed to maintain the dialo- Practices; Anton Drozdov, board chairman of market and promoting quality and inclusive gue on labour and employment issues, and to hold the Russian Pension Fund; Mikhail Shmakov, employment. meetings on these issues on a regular basis. Newsletter #1(64) March 2016 Guy Ryder Interviewed BRICS Labour Ministerial – by Russian Media Roundtable on Youth Employment In Ufa, where he was attending the first At the initiative of RSPP supported by the and reviewed the ways of promoting the social ever meeting of BRICS labour ministers, Russian oil company LUKOIL, a round table dialogue in the BRICS countries. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder gave on youth employment and the development of interviews to the Russian media. social partnership was organized on 25 January on the margins of the meeting of ministers Responding to questions from daily news- of labour of the BRICS countries in Ufa. It paper Rossijskaya Gazeta, Guy Ryder shared was attended by the head of the Republic of details regarding the findings of ILO’s Bashkortostan Rustem Khamitov, the Min­­i ster recent report World Employment and Social of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Outlook – Trends 2016, which pre dic ted Federation Maxim Topilin, President of RSPP further rise in the level of unemployment Alexander Shokhin, Director-General of the ILO Guy Ryder, Chairman of FNPR Mikhail Shmakov, Vice-President of LUKOIL Anatoly Moskalenko, representatives of the Russian Federation entities, employers and education institutions. For the Russian oil company LUKOIL acting Azita Berar Awad, Director of the ILO Employ- as a co-organizer of this round table was not ment Policy Department, made a presentation at accidental: as part of a special agreement, the roundtable. the ILO and LUKOIL implement a joint project “Partnerships for youth employment The participants discussed the issue of youth in the CIS.” This project has already contrib- employment and ways of addressing it; they uted to developing approaches – such as the also focused on the development of the provision of tax incentives to employers to in the next two years. He also spoke of his national qualifications system, the interaction create jobs for young people – that are now Organization’s activities in the context of between educational institutions and busi- being used in the preparation of the youth the current trends in the labour market. nesses as regards the professional training in employment roadmap in Russia, Azerbaijan The full text of Guy Ryder’s interview can specialities in demand in the labour market; and Kazakhstan. be found in Rossijskaya Gazeta’s 2 February issue. Director-General Guy Ryder Meets In another interview to Rossiya 24 TV channel, the ILO Director-General em- ILO Сonstituents phasized that numbers alone did not ex- In Ufa – the venue of the first meeting of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions plain the current state of the global labour ministers of labour and employment of the of Russia (FNPR), with the participation of market. ILO was equally preoccupied with BRICS countries – Director-General of the Evgeny Makarov, Deputy Chairman of FNPR, the quality of jobs, he said. International Labour Organization Guy Ryder and Alexey Zharkov, FNPR Secretary. met with the Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation Maxim Guy Ryder met with Alexander Shokhin, Pres- Topilin. ident of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), with the participa- “For Russia, it is essential to comply in full tion of high-level RSPP officials and Anatoly measure with the standards set by the Conven- Moskalenko, Vice-President of LUKOIL. tions of the International Labour Organiza- tion,” the Russian minister pointed out during the meetnig. “We are also quite active in ratify- Outside Conference Room ing the ILO Conventions,” he added. “Of late – between 2010 and 2014 – we have ratified 11 of them,” Maxim Topilin specified. Young people being a prime victim of the current downward trend on the labour According to the head of the Russian Minis- market, the global community should try of Labour, currently the Russian Federa- focus on a multi-pronged strategy to tion government is considering the possibility address the issue, Ryder said. The ILO of ratifying several ILO Conventions. “The head praised the decision of BRICS coun- draft law on the ratification of the 1952 So- tries to hold the meeting of the group’s cial Security (Minimum Standards) Conven- labour and employment ministers in Ufa, tion (No. 102) has been agreed upon by all describing it as a timely move to effective- the ministries concerned, and was submitted ly address the issues affecting the labour to the government for its consideration,” Posing for a quick snapshop in between markets of the member countries. Minister Maxim Topilin said. bilateral meetings (left to right): Mikhail Shmakov of FNPR, Guy Ryder, ILO, Guy Ryder’s interview to Rossiya 24 can be Also, the ILO Director-General had a bilateral Alexander Shokhin of RSPP and Anatoly viewed at the medium’s YouTube channel. meeting with Mikhail Shmakov, Chairman of Moskalenko of LUKOIL. 2 ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Young Trade Unionists from Northern Regions Meet in Murmansk On 16 – 18 February Sergeyus Glovackas then presented the recommen- training to match the needs