On February 5, representatives of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (CNSM), the CNSM leadership, presidents of national trade union centres, paid a working visit to the headquarters of the Austrian Trade Union Union (ÖGB) to intensify cooperation on various dimensions of social and economic protection of trade union members.

In dialogue with Korinna Schumann, Vice-President of the ÖGB, Igor Zubcu, President of the CNSM, spoke about the work of the trade union movement in the Republic of Moldova, the achievements of the last period and the objectives for the current year, the situation in the field of social dialogue, the situation on the labour market, the steps taken to strengthen the trade union movement at national level.

The parties exchanged views on the challenges faced by the trade union movement in the two countries, the difficulties caused by the economic crisis and price increases, and stressed the importance of emphasising in discussions with the Government the need to maintain a socially-oriented policy to support employees and effectively address the problems they face.

At the same time, the CNSM representatives had a meeting with Adele Siegl, ÖGB expert, where they discussed digitalisation in the world of work, the impact of artificial intelligence, the role of trade unions in protecting employees’ rights and interests in the context of technological development.

The trade unionists from our country also exchanged experiences and best practices with representatives of several Austrian trade unions representing the interests of employees in the following sectors: trade, banking and insurance companies, media, industry, energy, transport, research, social services, agriculture, mining, construction, machine building, and public administration.

Also during this visit, the CNSM representatives discussed with representatives of the Austrian organisation SOLIDAR the implementation in the next period of a joint project on social protection and support of workers in the sphere of social assistance, capacity building of the trade union movement in the Republic of Moldova in the context of the European Union integration process and the development of social dialogue.