Методички ЭД-203фк / Trade Unions new. Сборник учебно-методических материалов

7)The size of the union.

8)The effective operation of the TUC.

9)In 2003.

10)To comply with the TUC’s recommendations.

5. Translate the text into English using word combinations from exercises 1 and 2.

Федерация Независимых Профсоюзов России* образована в 1990 году. ФНПР – самое крупное профсоюзное объединение трудящихся России, включающее 46

общероссийских профсоюзов. В общей сложности ФНПР объединяет около 25 млн. членов профсоюзов.

ФНПР участвует в разработке проектов федеральных и региональных законов, касающихся социально-трудовой сферы, соблюдения прав профсоюзов и трудящихся. Стратегический курс ФНПР основывается на социальном партнерстве, в основе которого лежит принцип заключения коллективных договоров на предприятиях, отраслевых и региональных трехсторонних соглашений.

Вчисло перспективных задач ФНПР входят:

доведение заработной платы в России до уровня среднеевропейского,

обеспечение занятости трудоспособного населения, безопасных условий труда, достойных пенсий,

соблюдение государственных социальных гарантий,

рост уровня жизни трудящихся и членов их семей.

Высшим органом ФНПР является съезд. В период между съездами деятельностью ФНПР руководит Генеральный совет, заседания которого проводятся не реже двух раз в год. Для оперативного руководства деятельностью Федерации из числа членов Генсовета ФНПР избирается Исполнительный комитет. Председателем Федерации Независимых Профсоюзов России с 1993 года является Михаил Викторович Шмаков.

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ФНПР имеет развитую систему профсоюзного образования, включающую.

Академию труда и социальных отношений в Москве и Санкт-Петербургский гуманитарный университет профсоюзов, а также их филиалы, работающие во многих регионах России и странах СНГ.

ФНПР активно сотрудничает с Международной организацией труда.

Председатель ФНПР является членом Административного Совета МОТ.

____________

* Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) /www.fnpr.org.ru/

5. Compare the Trades Union Congress and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia. What do they have in common? How do they differ?

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PART II. SUPPLEMENTARY READING

‘SIGNIFICANT’ RISE IN NUMBERS OF OVER-50s

IN WORKFORCE

The proportion of workers aged over 50 has risen significantly over the last 20 years, according to a new analysis by the TUC. The report – published to coincide with the release of the latest government unemployment figures – found that the jobs market has changed significantly for older workers since 1992, when 56.5% of people aged between 50 and 64 were in work. By December 2010, 64.9% of the same age group were working, an increase of 8.4%. Over the same period, the proportion of those aged over 64 in the working population rose from 5.5% to 9%.

The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said older people bring a wealth of skills and experience to the workplace. “The increasing number of over-65s in work shows that older workers are highly valued and that the government is absolutely right to scrap the default retirement age,” he said.

But Barber also pointed out the less positive aspect of people working beyond retirement: “Low wages and poor pension provision, particularly in the private sector, mean that many people simply cannot afford to retire at 65. The failure of far too many employers to help staff save for their retirement is forcing these people into pensioner poverty and placing a huge cost burden on the state.”

The TUC report also reveals that young people have become less likely to be in employment over the same period, a fact the organisation attributes partly to the expansion of higher education, while also acknowledging the extent to which young people have been affected by the recession. In April 1992 48.8% of 16 and 17-year- olds were in employment, but that had dropped to around 23.6% by December 2010. Around two in three (65.8%) of 18 to 24-year-olds were working in April 1992, but this had fallen to around 58% by 2010.

“It is a mistake to blame older workers for youth unemployment – they tend not to be doing the jobs young unemployed people might expect to get,” Barber said. “The

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main reason for young people’s jobs crisis is that there just aren’t enough new jobs that are appropriate for young people being created. And, of course, the more people we have in work overall, the more the economy grows and the more jobs are created. Scrapping education maintenance allowance and hiking university tuition fees will only further reduce the chances of young people – and with inflation rising at over twice the level of earnings, those in work are also finding it hard to make ends meet.”

(The Guardian, July 13, 2011)

Times Topics: LABOR

In the United States, there are more than 150 million people in the labor force, a vast pool of workers that includes autoworkers and investment bankers, teachers and lumberjacks. The American labor force takes many forms: there are the traditional fulltime workers, but as employers have sought to create more flexible work forces, they have relied increasingly on part-time workers, temps and independent contractors. During the recession that ran from late 2007 into 2009, unemployment climbed to more than 15 million, with the jobless rate climbing to 10 percent and remaining above 9 percent throughout 2010.

About 16 million American workers are in labor unions, although the percentage of workers who are unionized has dropped fairly steadily in recent decades. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12.4 percent of the American work force belonged to a union in 2008, down from 35 percent in the 1950s. The percentage of workers in unions has dropped as companies have closed many unionized operations and moved them overseas and as many employers have grown more sophisticated in beating back unionization efforts. Moreover, as the American work force has grown more prosperous in the decades of World War II, many workers concluded that they did not need a union to represent them.

The main umbrella group representing the nation’s unionized workers is the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (A.F.L.-C.I.O.), a grouping of 56 unions that claims 11 million members. The other main labor group

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is the Change to Win federation, comprised of seven unions that say they represent more than 5 million workers. The nation’s largest labor union is the National Education Association, with more than 3 million members, and the second largest is the Service Employees International Union, which represents nearly 2 million workers, many of them health-care and building-service workers.

The United States has a web of laws regulating the workplace. In the laissezfaire years of the 19th century and early 20th century, the nation’s workplace laws were quite weak. But with the Great Depression causing widespread unemployment and suffering among workers and with labor unions gathering strength, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal Congress enacted important protections for the nation’s workers. The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938, setting a nationwide minimum wage and requiring time-and-a-half pay for non-salaried, non-supervisory employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. The National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act, was passed in 1936, giving the nation’s private-sector workers a federally protected right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. As soon as a majority of employees at a workplace vote for a union, the employer is generally required to grant union recognition and work to negotiate a contract. The most important labor legislation enacted since World War II was the Occupational Health and Safety Act, passed in 1970, which created a federal occupational safety agency and created safety requirements for the nation’s employers.

Other labor protections include the Social Security Act, which guarantees minimum monthly payments to millions of retirees and disabled workers, and the Family Medical Leave Act, which guarantees workers up to 12 unpaid weeks off work to take care of themselves of family members in case of illness. The individual states have workers’ compensation laws that assist workers injured on the job by providing them with medical care and indemnity benefits.

(The New York Times, January 4, 2011)

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UNILEVER FACES FURTHER STRIKES

Unions push for further stoppages after multinational consumer giant bid to

close final salary scheme

Consumer goods company Unilever faces a renewed wave of strikes this month over its decision to close its final salary pension scheme.

Before Christmas, Unilever, which produces goods such as Dove soap, Wall’s ice-cream, PG Tips and Marmite, was hit by the first ever national strike involving its UK operations after revealing plans for a pensions shake-up. The firm, which employs around 7,000 workers, is looking to move 5,000 staff to a less generous career average scheme by the middle of next year. The remainder are already signed up to the new scheme, which was closed to newcomers in 2008.

On Saturday, leaders of the Unite, Usdaw and GMB unions said they would call for a series of strikes from 17 January, claiming new pension arrangements could cut retirement income for staff by 40%.

Jennie Formby, national officer of Unite, said: “It would seem that Unilever believed the workers would give up after one day’s strike but they are badly mistaken. The workforce is angry that the company has refused to meet us or to attend talks at the conciliation service Acas.”

Allan Black, national officer of the GMB said: “Unilever need to get the message that profitable companies will not be allowed to walk away from their savings commitments to their loyal workforce.”

There was uproar when Shell, the last remaining FTSE-100 company with a final salary scheme in Britain, said it was closing it to new members, even though it recorded a surplus in 2010. Shell’s decision is part of a wider trend in Britain where only 19% of final salary and average salary schemes are open to new employees. The era when a majority of British staff in the private sector could be confident of a guaranteed income throughout their retirement is coming to an end.

Workers in the public sector are being asked by the government to pay more and work longer in order to retain benefits that are more reliable than those on offer from private firms. A study by the Association of Consulting Actuaries found that

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nine out of 10 private sector-defined benefit schemes are now closed to new entrants and four out of 10 prevent existing staff building up further benefits.

Unilever previously said its UK pension arrangements had to reflect realities if they were going to be sustainable into the future. In a statement, Unilever said it was “deeply concerned by the disproportionate action” of the trade unions. “We believe the provision of final salary pensions is a broken model which is no longer appropriate for Unilever. The pension arrangements which we plan to implement in July this year are exceptionally competitive. It is currently not clear how the dispute with the trade unions will be resolved – but we are continuing to urge our employees who have participated in industrial action to give further objective consideration to the very competitive new arrangements.”

(The Guardian, January 7, 2012)

STUDENTS PLAN FRESH WAVE OF PROTESTS

Student movement will follow last year’s demonstrations with series of actions in

step with trade union strikes

Student leaders who organised a series of mass demonstrations that saw tens of thousands of young people take to the streets last year are planning a fresh wave of protests. Students from across the UK will descend on London for a national demonstration in November, before staging a series of walkouts and occupations to coincide with the biggest wave of trade union strike action since 1926 at the end of the month.

Veterans of last year’s demonstrations say there is a growing anger among students and young people about the government’s plans for higher education and the axing of the education maintenance allowance (EMA). They predict this year’s protests could be the biggest yet.

“The student movement has grown up a lot in the last year,” said Michael Chessum from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts. “There are now dozens of networks and thousands of good activists, and many of last year’s school students

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will have come to university this year with the intention of being politically active. We’re looking to build a sustainable and democratic movement.”

Students say they are working more closely with trade unions in the fight against the government’s austerity plans and say the new wave of protests will focus on government plans to “privatise” the university and college system.

Maev McDaid, president of the University of Liverpool Guild of Students, said: "”Students and trade unions gave a massive boost to one another – and this year we will be looking to do the same thing on a bigger scale. It’s fantastic that the unions are now properly standing up to the government and we’ll be right behind them: on pensions and on the welfare state, their fight is ours as well.”

Last year’s student demonstrations saw tens of thousands of young people descend on London in a series of protests about the rise in tuition fees and the drastic cuts to post-16 education. There were outbreaks of violence and more than 180 arrests. Scores of campuses were occupied, some for several months, as the student movement spread across the country.

A student assembly held in London last weekend decided this year’s national demonstration would be on 9 November and would focus on opposition to the government’s higher education white paper.

“The government’s higher education white paper is a threat to what education is in Britain,” said Luke Durigan, education and campaigns officer at University College London union. “It threatens to turn higher education into a chaotic business model driven by false consumer choice – rather than anything resembling social progress.”

Chessum said “barely anyone” believed the government had done the right thing with fees or the EMA, adding: “The coalition is politically and morally bankrupt.” He said that although the government’s proposed rise in tuition fees had gone through, the student demonstrations had politicised a new generation of young people. He added that they hoped to mobilise support from young people in inner-city areas which are being hit hardest by the cuts.

(The Guardian, September 16, 2011)

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Letters

Students will join trade union protest

As student campaigners, we fully support the trade union movement’s campaign against austerity, including the biggest wave of strike action since 1926. The government’s plans for universities represent a threat to the very purpose of education, with the poor being priced out of a marketised system of private providers, while school and FE students are being robbed of basic support. The National Campaign against Fees and Cuts has now called a national education demonstration for Wednesday 9 November, and we will organise for a day of mass direct action and walkouts to coincide with the strike. We will not allow this government to abolish the welfare state and destroy our futures.

Strikes, marches and occupations

As students, we support workers and trade unionists in going ahead with their strike action on 30 November. Next Wednesday, on 9 November, students will be marching in London against the government’s higher education white paper, fighting for their right to live in a world where education is a public service, free and accessible to all, and pensions, decent housing, jobs and benefits are not a thing of the past. Within the government’s miserable compromise to the TUC was an attempt to generationally divide the anti-cuts movement: we would draw little comfort from the abolition of decent pensions as most of our members are turning 30. Students and workers must be willing to fight, united, for every inch of the welfare state, and not be swayed by the temptation of tame compromise.

ARE YOU ON STRIKE TODAY? TELL US WHY

The Guardian asked readers to share the reasons why they are striking. See some

of their replies, from Cif, Twitter and across the web below.

JAChand: We are striking to protect our pension funds from the raid by this government. More sensible cuts would be to reduce MPs pay and pension entitlements whilst curbing their expenses. As a University lecturer, we are witnessing the erosion of the Higher Education sector and a massive dumbing down of our society as a whole. All of these are worth striking for.

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Mae Bee from Leeds: Started today at 8 on the picket lines at Leeds Met. My union isn’t yet on strike although hopefully by Autumn there really will be the season of discontent. Along with many others, I’d taken the day off in solidarity because whilst in the unions, we are also beyond the unions.

By 11 we were a few hundred strong, which is impressive for Leeds. Without – and with no desire for – a police presence, we took the roads and strolled down past an enthusiastic public into town to meet a larger crowd at the main square. “What did we achieve?” will be the question asked. And of course, in terms of Government policy, probably nothing. But this is not where politics lies, nor has it ever been. Instead, today, we all were delighted to see other people in our workplaces, communities, kids groups, schools; we saw each other and connected. These are the ways our bonds are forged, in moments such as these.

islaking: I will be striking because I would like people to be aware of the hard work that teachers do for this country. I do not want to be envied for ‘good salaries’ and ‘good holidays’ but appreciated for what I, and all my colleagues, do every day in teaching the young people of this country so that they can go on and be successful in their own lives and contribute to the economy.

Teachers on strike will not be paid and this should be remembered and recognised as a demonstration of how strongly we feel about our situation.

AL: I am a civil servant striking today. I don’t want to be on strike, the loss of pay next month is going to hit me very hard, and I don’t particularly want to cause other people inconvenience. But I feel it’s necessary to show the government that civil servants are fed up of being deprived of decent pay rises and treated like goats by government and media alike. We accepted a two year pay freeze to help the country out, whilst private sector got an average of a 3% pay rise. We have had our compensation scheme virtually destroyed, are losing jobs all over the place and now are expected to pay 3% extra for a pension. What’s more, that money will not go into the pension but will go to pay for a crisis created by greedy people in the private sector.

I believe everyone should have a good pension, no one should need to rely on benefits when they get old, and I don’t accept that just because private sector

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