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Gëzim Kalaja: Unionization in Albania has faded

2023-04-26 21:04:35, Aktualitet CNA

Gëzim Kalaja: Unionization in Albania has faded

The Chairman of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania, Gëzim Kalaja

The President of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania, Gëzim Kalaja, lists as the reason for the decline of trade union activity in the country, the oppression that the politics of both sides does to these organizations that protect the interests of employees. Likewise, according to him, trade union protests often encounter prejudices and accusations that a political party is behind them.

In the interview for Voice of America, Mr. Kalaja talks about the state of the mining sector in Albania, problems with outdated technology and difficult working conditions for miners. He says that in those mines that have been taken over by foreign companies, the situation has improved, which cannot be said, according to him, for mines that are managed by former employees of the industry.

Voice of America: Mr. Kalaja, you have been at the head of the Union of Independent Trade Unions for several decades, but in Albania, trade union activities are rare and almost non-existent. How do you explain this lack of employee organization?

Castle Joy:I will answer your question, but I will start with the word non-existent. The Union of Independent Albanian Trade Unions stands in all its institutions, it is spread on the horizontal plane, on the vertical plane, it means in the federations of the professions and the trade unions of the regions. It is true that there has been a decrease in trade union activity due to the oppression of the politics of both sides in the direction of Albanian trade unionism, not only for the Union of Independent Albanian Trade Unions, but also for other trade unions, because you do not I know if you have information, but in Albania, the Ministry of Labor, which is the main coordinator for a trade union, has been removed, to solve its problems and to revive trade union movements. The second is the political pressure that is exerted, because if you are going to hold a protest, you have immediate accusations that you serve x party or y party. However, recently, American justice has sent to us the "Center for Solidarity", which is not only for Albania, but also for the Western Balkans and there is an evolution, a positive forward movement of trade unionism in Albania, but very soon it will life begins and I think the unions will have their main priority, as they have before.

Voice of America: Mr. Kalaja, you are in the US at the invitation of the Miners' Union of America. Albania inherited from the dictatorship many mines with old technology, which have been privatized, but miners have complained about difficult working conditions and there have been quite a few reports of accidents in them. How can these workers be better protected?

Gëzim Kalaja: April 28 is World Occupational Safety and Health Day, for which I am in the United States of America. Today we will travel to West Virginia. We will also participate in a larger rally after the signing of the agreement we made with the Union of Mineworkers of America, which was signed by its president, Cecil Roberts. As far as Albanian mines are concerned, 587 miners have died so far. At the same time, the companies that have come to work are more to get the mineral than to invest. Of course, there are companies that have invested regularly.

Voice of America: But how is the general situation?

Gëzim Kalaja: Where the foreign companies that are investing in Albania have a hand, there is an improvement in the situation of the mining industry. Where it continues to be under the administration of former employees of the mining industry, due to financial impossibility, it continues to be in a very poor condition, in which fatal accidents have also occurred.

Voice of America: What do you think the trade union movements in Albania have achieved since their creation. It has often been talked about a kind of conformity on their part, or a blind agreement with the policy, which has conflicted with the interests of the employees.

Castle Joy:In this case, I will talk about the institution of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania, without taking responsibility for other unions. This has been known since the beginning of 1991, that the BSPSH was the main engine of the overthrow of the dictatorship in Albania. Together with the Albanian opposition, the students and after the victory of the anti-communist opposition in Albania, the BSPSH was taken towards the institutionalization of social relations and the protection of the interests of Albanian workers. It is one of the first institutions that have created and signed collective contracts which are in the archive of the Albanian government, and continues to prioritize the interests of Albanian workers who are already located in the regions or the mining industry, or the energy industry, which improves it which the Albanian government does not do. With rising wages for the mining industry, the government is not involved, the union of miners of Albania is involved, which through collective labor contracts manages to raise the salary. We have reached from 1400 to 1600 dollars for the mining industry, which I think due to the situation in which Albania is, is not small compared to other salaries.

Voice of America: Do you think Mr. Kalaja that Albanians trust unions today?

Gëzim Kalaja: The trade union base has faith in BSPSH and especially the union of Albanian miners is the flagship of the implementation of collective labor contracts and the protection of the interests of Albanian miners.

Voice of America: But today, can an employee in Albania trust the fate of his work, to the unions, to leave it to them to solve his problems? Why not organize on the ground?

Gëzim Kalaja: I believe so. It does not mean that you can achieve results only through protests, because results can also be achieved through the negotiation table, with dialogue. We have held major protests with the presence of 50 or 100 thousand people, imposing the government on the issue of the electricity crisis, on the work of prices and other problems related to the social life of the employees of Albania.

VOA: What is your relationship with the government?

Gëzim Kalaja: Our relations with the government are like the relations of other organizations and political parties with the Albanian government.

VOA: What does it mean?

Gëzim Kalaja : Which means they don't work well./ VOA