A small European country with big challenges
Moldova's construction sector is an important source of decent jobs in the formal economy. But like the rest of the country, the sector is challenged by the volatile geopolitical situation, high inflation and a massive emigration of working-age Moldovans to EU countries. The prospect of potential EU membership places great demands on the ability of labour market organisationsto work together to adapt.
Project leads to extended cooperation between the parties
In Moldova, there is no tradition of social partners coming together to develop proposals for the government. But with inspiration from Denmark, employers and employees have joined forces to develop concrete proposals for reforming Moldova's procurement rules.
"We have put a thorough proposal on the government's table that will contribute to the formalization of, among other things, the construction industry. It will ensure that the many companies that hire workers in orderly conditions with sick pay, health insurance and pension contributions are not outcompeted by companies that pay part of their wages in cash in an envelope," says Vladislav Caminschi, executive director of the national employers' organisation CNPM.
"We have also collaborated on a higher minimum wage. Together we persuaded the government to raise the national minimum wage by 25%.
New collective agreement provides higher minimum wage
After difficult negotiations, the trade union SINDICONS and the employers' organisations CONDRUMAT and FPCPMC have managed to agree on a new four-year collective agreement which, among other things, raises the minimum wage by 30%.
"We hope that the agreement will help improve the socio-economic situation in the construction sector, combat the informal economy, prevent accidents at work, reduce the emigration of labour," says Victor Talmaci, President of SINDICONS