Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia Mikhail Shmakov
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Agreement Reached on Minimum Wage
Today, for the first time since 2002, a general agreement for 2008-2010 was signed by a tripartite commission representing employers, trade unions and the government, without note being made of the parties' formal differences. The agreement is the main document regulating relations between employers, unions and the government at the federal level. The parties were able to agree on the main item in the agreement, the raising of the minimum wage, which the government was the main opponent of. The minimum wage will be raised to the minimum cost of living in December 2008, unless reasons can be found not to do so after analyzing the effects of raising the minimum wage in September of this year.
The document was signed by Minister of Health and Social Development Tatyana Golikova, chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia Mikhail Shmakov and head of the Coordinating Committee of United Employers of Russia Oleg Eremeev.
The parties agreed “To carry out analysis of the socio-economic consequences of the raising of the minimum wage on September 1, 2007, to 2300 rubles [monthly] and of the establishment of the minimum wage in practice in the subjects [of the Russian Federation] in April 2008 with the goal of raising the minimum wage to the level of the minimum cost of living for able-bodied public on December 1, 2008.” Before September, the minimum wage was 1100 rubles.
The government had previously opposed raising the minimum wage to meet the cost of living before the end of 2010. The Ministry of Health called the agreement “evidence of the new quality of development of the social partnership.” Sources involved in the negotiations say that the unions' success was due to the replacement of health minister Mikhail Zurabov, who was an ardent opponent of raising the minimum wage. “A sharp increase in the minimum wage could negatively effect the economies of some subjects,” noted the employers' group.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 21, 2007
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