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Russia's Putin urges unions to build prosperity
MOSCOW, Nov 28 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin urged trade unions on Wednesday to shoulder their share of responsibility for implementing reforms he said were vital for Russia's future prosperity.
Putin addressed a congress of the Federation of Independent Russian Trade Unions (FNPR), the country's largest, as parliament geared up for what is certain to be a stormy debate on a labour code to replace Soviet-era legislation.
"We together have a common aim -- to work towards the prosperity of Russia and its citizens," Putin told 1,500 delegates in remarks broadcast on television.
"To achieve this, we need to act in concert so that authorities do not forget their responsibility for the social consequences of their action, of what we often call reform."
He urged trade unionists to "defend the social guarantees of citizens and to recognise their share of responsibility for the country's successful economic development."
Russia's trade unions, successor to a Soviet-era movement which offered little opposition to Communist authorities, remains weak 10 years after the collapse of the Soviet state.
The FNPR is by far the largest grouping, but often does not command a majority on the shop floor of many factories.
Putin noted in his address that the new code's approval had been delayed despite approval from international organisations.
The code, passed in first reading in July, aims to fill gaps in 1960s-era legislation which does not recognise private employment. That leaves 80 percent of the workforce operating outside the legal framework.
An initial business-friendly text was amended after consultations with trade unions. But communists denounced the legislation as anti-worker and clashed with police outside the State Duma lower house during the July debate.
Commissions have been drafting amendments to the labour code, due to be examined in second reading in mid-December.
The Duma has generally approved legislation backed by the president with a minimum of resistance. But the code has generated unusually high passions.
The version approved in July gives private employers the formal right to hire and fire workers, but gives preference to long-term contracts rather than short-term employment which companies often practice in the interests of flexibility.
The bill also raises obligatory wages closer to the threshold seen as the minimum for subsistence. Current discussions focus on penalties for late payment of wages, a chronic problem of the late 1990s largely resolved during Putin's presidency.
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