The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
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“It is absolutely true that we must give due consideration to the working people”
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Speaker of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast Oksana Kozlovskaya spoke at the meeting of the Russian President with the members of the Russian Federal Assembly’s Council of Legislators. President Vladimir Putin, Speakers and representatives of both houses of the Federal Assembly and heads of regional legislatures gathered to “compare notes” and discuss the government’s priority tasks, including those outlined in the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly.
Oksana Kozlovskaya addressed protection of workers when a facility is privatized or closed.
“Mr. Putin, the State Duma of the Russian Federation and, to my best knowledge, legislative bodies of the regions of Russia still have to tackle a lot of issues arising out of privatization processes. The point is that during privatization (not because it is unnecessary; privatization is a natural and absolutely appropriate process) very often people are thrown overboard, they lose their jobs. In Tomsk Oblast we have not only positive examples of a rational governmental approach, but also very negative and discouraging ones. One of the positive examples is Rosatom. As you know, they have a large production facility in Tomsk. When privatization came up, the company signed an agreement with Tomsk Oblast which expressly defined the responsibilities of both parties. Many job preservation programs and new job initiatives were implemented.
“Rosatom even provided assistance in creating new jobs at small enterprises and that is very important to ensure that people are socially protected. But there are other examples when a state-owned facility is privatized under a specious pretense of improving its efficiency, people are dismissed from their jobs, assets are sold away and the business dies. In this respect we have the following proposal. I think the working class problem is long overdue. We are aware of the international experience, we know that many countries have adopted relevant laws, and our proposal is to consider the adoption of such a law at the federal level, and I think that the Council of Legislators could become a partner of the State Duma in this initiative.”
Vladimir Putin asked the Tomsk Oblast Duma Speaker to specify which law she was referring to.
Oksana Kozlovskaya said that would be “a law that would protect the workers at the time of a company’s privatization, when the company is deemed inefficient and people lose their jobs. Because in practice the regions, for example, do not have enough leverage today, especially when it comes to the privatization of federal enterprises. That is the point. We know that there are special social foundations, and this issue has been under discussion for several years.
Vladimir Putin supported the Speaker’s concerns and suggested uniting efforts in looking for better ways to protect workers of facilities under privatization or closure.
“The existing regulations (which, unfortunately, are not always enforced) stipulate, for example, that companies filing for bankruptcy must pay out the workers’ wages in full, and so on. But you are probably right and this is not enough. We should think about improving these regulations. I am not prepared to say right now what is regulated by the law and what is determined by governmental decisions, but it is absolutely true that we must give due consideration to the working people in matters of this kind. The shape this must take is another question, but people must have the guarantee that they will not be thrown out into the street without any means of subsistence. And this is not just because it is fraught with social tensions, but simply because it is our duty to the working people, that is obvious. However, this must be done in such a way that these decisions are enforceable.”
