The National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (CNSM) launched today, 3 April, the 10^th jubilee edition of the Trade Union School of Moldova. The launching event, which took place in the premises of the Labour Institute, was attended by the CNSM leadership, presidents of national and regional trade union centres, and representatives of the Labour Institute and graduates of previous editions of Trade Union School of Moldova.

This year’s edition is attended by 41 trainees representing 15 national trade union centres. During several study sessions, guided by project mentors, the trainees will develop the skills and competences needed to carry out successful trade union management activities, exchange best practices and experiences, and finally implement various projects.

Igor Zubcu, President of the CNSM, underlined that the Trade Union School of Moldova is an innovative educational project, based on European standards in the field of trade union training, aimed at contributing to the capacity building of the trade union movement in the Republic of Moldova and the training of a new generation of trade unionists.

The trade union leader spoke about the importance of this project for the trade union movement and urged the trainees to promote the values of the world of work such as social justice, social dialogue, solidarity, social equity, and to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the Trade Union School of Moldova in terms of training, development of personal and professional skills, which involves capacity building in various areas.

At the launch event of the new edition of the Trade Union School of Moldova, several graduates of previous editions shared their experience and urged the trainees to be active, enthusiastic, open to accumulate new knowledge, to make friends and to participate in all the activities planned within the project, and then to develop impactful projects that will benefit employees, union members, at the unit level.

From April to September 2024, trainees will be trained in areas such as trade union management, social dialogue, labour law, social-economic policies, trade union solidarity, gender equality, project management, communication and promotion, economic and financial analysis of enterprises, etc.

The Trade Union School of Moldova is an educational project implemented by CNSM together with the Labour Institute since 2012, initially developed with the support of the Austrian Development Agency, the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB), the Austrian Coordination Office for Technical Cooperation, the Austrian Embassy in Chisinau, the general objective of the School being to strengthen grassroots trade union organizations in order to defend and promote the rights of employees, trade union members.

So far, 166 participants have been trained at the Trade Union School in Moldova and have subsequently succeeded in advancing to trade union positions, participating more actively in decision-making processes at the level of economic units, territorial structures and national trade union centres.