Moldova - 2012

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Population: 3,600,000
Capital: Chisinau
The social and economic situation in Moldova remains complicated. The trade unions oppose the austerity measures, while the enforcement of labour legislation remains problematic, and the legal framework is not conducive to independent trade union activities.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)

reported violations - 2012

Murders: none reported
Attempted Murders: none reported
Threats: none reported
Injuries: none reported
Arrests: none reported
Imprisonments: none reported
Dismissals: none reported
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

While the government gloats about economic growth, Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe. About 46% of the population lives below the poverty threshold. Moldova is supported by IMF, but it has to implement austerity measures in order to receive credit tranches. This policy is criticised harshly by the trade unions. The year was marked by the increased tension between the trade union movement, and the government and employers.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,600,000
Capital: Chisinau

reported violations- 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

A number of limitations on trade union rights apply despite initial guarantees. The right to form or join a trade union is recognised by the Constitution, and the Trade Union Law of 2000 provides for trade union independence. However, unions may only acquire legal status if they are members of a national branch organisation or national cross-sectoral trade union organisation, which unduly limits the freedom of the unions. The Labour Code also stipulates that either party to a collective dispute collective dispute See industrial dispute may submit the conflict to judicial tribunals for settlement if negotiations fail or if the party disagrees with the decision of the reconciliation commission. The right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is prohibited for government workers and workers in essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
 , the list of which exceeds the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights definition. Furthermore, workers having participated in an unlawful strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike may face serious fines and even imprisonment.
Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,600,000
Capital: Chisinau

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

In practice:

The amendments to the Labour Code were elaborated and proposed by the confederation of employers. The new bill has been roundly condemned by the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CNSM). The leadership of the Confederation points out that the new amendments would undermine the trade union’s right to protect its members from arbitrary dismissal. As the situation of Moldovan workers is marred by the structural weakness due to widespread informal employment, the reform of the labour legislation gives employers inordinate control over employees, and a powerful tool against the trade unions.

CNSM declared in October 2011 that an attack on the Confederation by the mass-media is a part of a systematic anti-union campaign launched in the country, in order to weaken the trade union movement, and to challenge the trade union’s opposition to the neoliberal reforms.

The creation of new unions remains a problem due to the employers’ resistance. Collective agreements are mainly signed at enterprises having a long history of collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. Legislative enforcement remains weak. Neither labour inspectorates nor prosecutors’ offices have been effective in monitoring and enforcing labour standards, especially the right to organise.

ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,600,000
Capital: Chisinau

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Violations

Trade union demands no met; the union activists under criminal trial: The dispute between the sugar plant SA Glodeny Zahar and employees continues. The workers have not received their wages since June 2009. The plant went bankrupt at the end of 2009, and the bankruptcy administration has been reluctant to pay out the wage arrears. When the workers began picketing picketing Demonstration or patrolling outside a workplace to publicise the existence of an industrial dispute or a strike, and to persuade other workers not to enter the establishment or discourage consumers from patronising the employer. Secondary picketing involves picketing of a neutral establishment with a view to putting indirect pressure on the target employer. the gates of the plant in order to prevent the sale of the plant’s assets, including sugar which was still at the premises, the five leaders and activists of the trade union organisation of the enterprise – Vasiliy Guliak, Valentina Semenyuk, Anatoliy Furtuna, Fyodor Svoevolin and Victor Golibaba - were arrested at the end of 2010. A strong international solidarity campaign was launched, and the trade union activists were released. But the criminal charges were not dropped, and the five trade union activists of SA Glodeny Zahar still face possible sentences of several (from three to eight) years in prison for their trade union activity. Workers’ protests continued throughout 2011 without success.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,600,000
Capital: Chisinau

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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