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<< atgalService sector continues to be problematic

2011-04-06

In the recent “Lithuanian trade union" newspaper issue Lithuanian service workers trade union chairman Aleksandras Posochovas interview was published.

We offer it for your information.

The official press quoted various experts reporting warming economy. The Prime Minister openly celebrate that we quickly climb out of the hole and has even seen some heights, which have to be reached. Whether there is economic growth in the services sector? – We ask Lithuanian service workers trade union chairman Aleksandras Posochovas.

In the services sector we feel some spring. The crisis is the banking crisis, but people are suffering. This is underlined in all trade unions international events, which I attended. Many liberal governments around the world threw money into the business. I think that it was and remains to be re-distribution of money made by some influential business system. They started to demand cash incentives from the government. The worst that business with governments help shifted the entire burden on people's shoulders. The same is happening in Lithuania. Therefore trade unions around the world say that it is enough to look at the banks, now it is necessary to save the people.

Employers during the crisis eagerly reduced workers salaries. So maybe now, when we say that the crisis retreats, they began to grow?

Where there are strong trade unions, we succeeded in retaining the same salary. For example, in "Statoil" salary even grew - the growth is expected this year too, despite the fact that fuel sales are declining. Company shows that it values ​​its human resources. It is true; they had to dismiss some workers, mainly from the management system. New workers were not hired, so to the remaining employees workload load slightly increased.

Our problem - variable bonuses additional to wages. It allows employers easily to manipulate wage rates. In some places bonuses exceeded the basic salary size. This suggests that they try to avoid tax, and state promoting business, allows it. In addition, I think that part of the business went to the shade. Entrepreneurs are finding new ways: repay in fuel, products. In brief, the state tires to save the business, while business is trying to hide taxes. Unfortunately, the government works for business, rather than man.

Small and medium-sized businesses frighten us that if salaries would be raised, they go bankrupt. At the beginning of crisis I said: don’t be afraid of some firms bankruptcy. Niche is never empty; those who know how to do the business will take it. If we peg unjustified business life, and the money will be thrown away, those businessmen will spend it to their own pleasure. Look: how businessmen had homes, they still have it; they drove luxury cars, and continue to ride it.

All governments since reestablishment of independence tried to make us as slaves of monopolists and their own supervisor – the government.

I think we need to increase the penalties for violations of laws that employers would fear to break it. It is so in Germany for the smallest offenses - fines in thousands.

The prognosis that the downturn will force people to join the trade union did not materialize. Across Europe, the membership hasn’t been growing. I think that this is because people are in panic fear of losing their jobs. After all, the media screamed: crisis, how awful, hundreds of thousands will lose their jobs, so people were not thinking about the work conditions, the most important was to keep a job.

And now, when there is a beginning of the some recovery, people begin to open their eyes, they do not want to be slaves. Unfortunately, the joint efforts of business and government (although they say in the eyes that you, the union, you are great) manage to maintain a negative image of trade unions. It’s some kind of obsolete, evil. People should understand that the union is themselves, rather than leaders or some kind of mystical creature. This is only respond to the capital: mass – in front of the money.

After a panic when we see that there are new jobs, people start to think, and so we get many calls: from the various service industry sectors they ask about conditions of joining the LPSDPS. Initially is difficult set up a functioning union in the company, but we accept members directly to branch trade organizations till we establish the organization with existing regulations. 

The most difficult is where the employer discriminates against union members. For example, in security company G4S currently to the union members almost openly mentioned: if you resign, you get duty in profitable facilities in the center, if not - go to work in Nauja Vilnia, where conditions are worse and less paid.

Unfortunately, the government and even courts in this case are not on the employee side. One of such an example: the State Labour Inspectorate lawyer was hired by the same G4S 'and employers' representatives consulted on how to deal with the union.

However, there are positive cases: Vilnius trolleybus' union won the case. A person after almost a year returned back to work, and court ordered the employer not only to pay for forced vacation, but also to compensate moral damage. So, the situation is not hopeless.

I think that the trade union movement needs a unity. Now those "kings” - Dambrauskas, Juknys, Bakas, Bruzas, as well as national centers “Solidarumas”, Labour Federation, the Confederation - all operate separately. It supposed to be a strong national organization, or at least a coordination center, consisting of representatives from all unions. Such a fragmented movement is easy to manage, and is made ​​everything so that trade unions confront each other.

Taking the services sector, what area is most problematic. Seems retail for a long time was quite a difficult area?

Maybe it is because that much talked about. I think that one of the "darkest" businesses now is private security. Here very easy to manipulate people, as the main bearer of profit is the human factor. In general, in our sector a lot of shadow of money: almost all people signing employment contracts are subject only to the minimum wage, rarely even mention about bonuses. I think that where only the official minimum wage is paid, there is a shadow. Not to mention the companies even where people do not earn the minimum wage, as in "Lelija”. The government in general, should these firms to have closed, denying a second chance.

Hotel sector, cafes and bars - is another problematic sector. To my knowledge, there are often people are taken to work part-time, but works full-time. Why there is no check there?

This sector is ungrateful to the extent that it is very difficult to bring people together to join trade unions. There is big workers turnover: work taken by students and others who work only temporarily, until find any other more decent job.