Mihail Kartashov, regional coordinator of BWI: We are open to extend the collaboration with Moldavian trade union organization

On September 17-21, a delegation from the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and Union to Union from Sweden, is conducting a documentary visit to the Republic of Moldova to discuss with Moldovan trade unionists the perspectives of collaboration and get familiar with the social-economic realities of the country.

Thus, on Monday, September 18, BWI representatives and a group of Swedish trade unionists had a working meeting with the leadership of the “SINDENERGO” Trade Union Federation of Energy Workers, where the subject of the affiliation of the energy union to BWI was discussed.

During the meeting, which was attended by the leadership of the Trade Union Federation of Construction and Building Material Industry Trade “SINDICONS”. Victoria Niţă, President of SINDENERGO Federation, spoke about the history of the trade unions, noting that at present the organization has about 4500 members , operating in 10 enterprises.

“We have faced a complicated social-economic crisis for several years. As a result, many Moldovans, including energy specialists, choose to work abroad. Of course, we want citizens to stay at home, but if they leave, we want to help them and provide them with the necessary information on employment abroad, to be protected and know how to defend their rights. Affiliation to BWI will give us the chance to find new working practices with trade union members, share experience and take on various ideas from BWI trade unions,” said Victoria Niţă.

Niklas Enstrom, international secretary of the Swedish Electricians Union, said that the organization he represents is open to work with Moldovan trade unions.

“As we witness a massive globalization of companies, materialized by migrating them to different countries to penetrate new markets, trade unions should work intensively internationally to be one step ahead of companies. In recent years, there is a lack of energy specialists in Sweden and we notice that specialists from Eastern European countries, including Moldova, come to work and they need to be well informed about the realities of the Swedish labor market. In this context, our visit to Moldova is a first step towards developing cooperation relations with Moldovan trade unions,” emphasized Niklas Enstrom.

At the same time, the delegation from BWI and Union to Union attended a meeting with the leadership of the “SINDICONS” Federation on Tuesday, September 19, where were discussed several issues related to the social dialogue in the Republic of Moldova and the activities organized by BWI in collaboration with construction industry unions, members of the BWI.

Referring to the work of the National Commission for Collective Bargaining and Consultation, Victor Talmaci, President of the “SINDICONS” Federation, said there was a need to find new mechanisms that would make the social dialogue process more efficient.

“We are in a crisis of social dialogue, which is difficult. We regret that in the last few years we have not been able to develop tripartite relationships as we would have liked. We have practically no negotiations that would contribute to raising wages in the construction industry. Discussions are currently taking place to strengthen bipartite social dialogue, and international experience can guide us to get more outcomes in this direction,” the trade union leader said.

“We have been working with the “SINDICONS” Federation for several years, an active partner in promoting BWI campaigns internationally, and we are joining them in implementing several projects benefiting trade union members. From my point of view, in order to meet the current challenges, trade unions from Moldova must be united and open to apply new models of interaction with trade union members and social partners,” said Mihail Kartashov, regional coordinator of BWI.

During the reference period, the BWI delegation will have a meeting with the leadership of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova and will visit several enterprises in the country.

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) is a global union of trade unionists in the field, which gathers over 350 organizations from over 130 countries. In Moldova, members of the BWI are the Trade Union Federation “SINDICONS” and the Trade Union Federation “SINDSILVA”.

For more information contact: Department of Mass Media and International Relations,

(022) 266590 or press@cnsm.md