The Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, the employers' union, and trade unions have concluded a trilateral agreement
– This document is important, relevant, and fully reflects the goals of the quality five-year plan announced in Belarus. Quality is a broad concept that includes the work of enterprises, personnel training, social guarantees, and other aspects. And all this is aimed at improving the quality of human life. This is exactly what we have laid at the foundation of the trilateral agreement. If everyone adheres to them, we will be able to achieve qualitative development of our region, – emphasized Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Anzhelika Nikitina.
The previous agreement has been completed. The times, as Anzhelika Nikitina noted, were difficult, both with COVID and sanctions, nevertheless, the economy of the Vitebsk region is developing dynamically, investments are being made, production volumes and trade turnover are increasing, and people's incomes are higher than planned. This indicates that partnership agreements have worked. The new ones are also primarily aimed at protecting the interests of citizens, increasing wages, promoting employment, and fulfilling social guarantees, which is very important for every employee today. And this is directly related to increasing labor productivity and, ultimately, to the socio-economic development of the region and the country.
To date, the coverage of such agreements is 95%, or more than 3.5 thousand organizations from both the real and social sectors. According to Anzhelika Nikitina, they are a handbook for joint actions regarding the observance of workers' rights and guarantees. The new document is supplemented with relevant norms, in particular, they concern personnel training, retention of young specialists, social guarantees for working pensioners, and others.
The importance of the guarantees for employees laid down in the agreement was emphasized by the Chairman of the Regional Association of Trade Unions, Yuri Derkach.
– The main goal of the document is to ensure the socio-economic development of the region and the social protection of labor collectives and every citizen. It preserves important components. These include salaries in the public sector – 80% of the average salary in the country, 40% in pension provision, employment, legal education, striving for zero injuries, and training specialists in in-demand trades. Trade unions, employers, and the government are extremely interested in the socio-economic development of the region, which is directly related to improving the well-being of residents. It is important that labor collectives are focused on the results of their work. After all, the standard of living depends on the performance of the economy, – explained Yuri Derkach.
Chairman of the Regional Union of Employers Vasily Chekan noted that all enterprise managers supported this agreement.
– It is necessary for the economy of the region to develop, and the well-being of every resident depends on this. This document is not a dogma. If necessary, some changes can be made, – emphasized Vasily Chekan.
"Vitebskiye Vesti"