During the visit to the Republic of Moldova, Esther Lynch, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), had a meeting with members of the Confederal Board of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (CNSM) on Wednesday 22 November.

Mr Igor Zubcu, the President of the CNSM, underlined that the visit of ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch is a historic event for the trade union movement in the Republic of Moldova, one year after the CNSM joined the great European trade union family.

The CNSM President stressed that this visit is of particular importance, given the efforts of the country’s leadership, social partners, civil society and society as a whole to speed up the processes related to the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union.

The trade union leader thanked the ETUC leadership for its support in the process of developing the social partnership, its openness to support the trade union movement, and expressed confidence that these relations will be further developed in order to take over good practices, protect the interests of employees in the context of EU accession processes, implement joint campaigns and activities in the field of promoting decent work, combating the informal economy, improving the situation in the field of occupational safety and health, developing and protecting the labour market.

For her part, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch praised the work of the trade union movement in the Republic of Moldova and mentioned that she was impressed by the actions taken in the context of the multiple crises faced by Moldovan society in recent years. She stressed the importance of trade unions promoting the rights and interests of employees by intensifying dialogue with social partners, strengthening trade union organisations at all levels, putting forward proposals and demands aimed at improving the social and economic situation of employees in Moldova.

During the discussions between the members of the Confederal Board of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova and ETUC General Secretary Ms Esther Lynch, many problems faced by the national trade union centres were discussed. Interventions in this regard were made by trade unionists from the sectors of health, education, public administration, law enforcement, construction, and banking sectors, who referred to various problems in the budgetary and real sectors of the national economy, including the protection of the rights of trade union organisations to defend the rights of trade union members.

During her visit to the Republic of Moldova, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch met with Ms Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova, and Mihai Popsoi, Vice-President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. She also met with students of the Trade Union School of Moldova.

The European Trade Union Confederation is the main trade union organisation representing workers at European level. The ETUC was founded in 1973 and includes more than 90 trade union organisations with over 45 million trade union members.

More photos from ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch’s visit to Moldova can be found on the CNSM Facebook page.