Training Seminar for the Members of the Women Network of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) together with the International Labour Organization (ILO) held on September 23-25, 2014 in Aghveran a workshop on Social protection conventions and collective agreements for the members of the Women Network of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia. The seminar was attended by Olga Nicolae, Policy Adviser of ITIC/PERC, Brussels, Ludmila Uskova, Technical Programmes Assistant of ILO Moscow Office, Boris Kharatyan, deputy chairman of the CTUA, the chairmen of the Republican branch unions, staffers of the CTUA, the chairmen of trade union organizations.
The workshop was led by Garnik Vagharshakyan, head of the Educational and Research Center of CTUA, executive secretary of CTUA.
The deputy chairman of the CTUA B.Kharatyan presented in detail to the participants of the seminar the reforms that have been taken place in the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia in the period after the 3rd Congress of the CTUA.
The representative of the ILO Moscow Office L.Uskova spoke about the global problem of gender equality and that at present the concept of “gender equality” is the focus of many discussions and activities, as well as she presented a glossary, familiarizing the participants with the thematic terminology.
The policy adviser of ITUC/PERC Olga Nicolae presented to the participants the structure of ITUC/PERC, spoke about the motivation of membership in trade unions, the role of women in trade unions, on the need to enhance the role of women in society. Especially has been specified the role of trade unions in cases where employers make artificial problems for working women, and when it is necessary to mobilize all forces to counter the illegal claims of employers.
The head of the Legal Department of the CTUA M.Piliposyan presented the Labor Code of Armenia and highlighted the issues on labor relations. He informed that the Republic of Armenia has ratified a number of international conventions and agreements containing provisions on equality between men and women. The principle of sex equality is also laid down in the Labour Code of Armenia, which states that for equal work, men and women should receive equal pay.
The head of the Social-economic and labour protection department of CTUA K.Madoyan spoke on “Challenges on labour safety and protection in the primary organizations”.
The workshop’s participants were actively involved in the discussions, referring to important subjects such as the role of women in collectives taking into account the national features, unemployment in the regions, especially those branches were observed, which are mainly staffed by women (education, health, trade, and culture) and also the specificity of their problems.
Summing up the workshop, the participants came to the same conclusion that there is a need to activate the gender policy and strengthen the role of women among the employees’ teams, to carry out information work among young people about the motivation of union membership.
