Today, 6 September, an evaluation meeting of the activities and results of the Xth edition of the Trade Union School of Moldova was held at the Institute of Labour. The event was attended by the leadership of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (CNSM), presidents and representatives of national and regional trade union centres. The trainees presented their projects and received certificates.

During this year, the 32 trainees, representatives of national and regional trade union centres , were trained by a group of trade union trainers in 4 training sessions in the following areas: legal and socio-economic protection of workers, social partnership, social security, managing a successful trade union organisation, the role of trade unions in the EU accession process, health and safety at work, the role and activity of youth and women’s structures in trade unions, promoting the image of trade unions, trade union leadership.

At the event, Igor Zubcu, President of the CNSM, congratulated the trainees on the results achieved and thanked the mentors for their commitment and support in the training process. The CNSM President underlined that the main objective of this important project for the trade union movement is the training and professional development of the functional, social and professional skills of trade union activists, which will lead to the strengthening of primary trade union organisations to defend and promote workers’ rights and to train a new generation of trade union leaders in accordance with European standards in the field of trade union training.

The projects developed by the trainees of the 10th edition of the Trade Union School of Moldova, which were presented today, covered topics and areas such as: recruitment of trade union members, implementation of the collective agreement at the unit level, creation of facilities for employees’ children at the workplace, making the work of the primary trade union more effective, and the development of the trade union movement in Moldova.

The educational programme of the Trade Union School of Moldova was developed by experts from the CNSM and the Institute of Labour and other experts. It includes modules with thematic content, focusing on the main concerns and areas of interest of the national trade union movement. Trade union trainers and external experts were involved in the training process, and the knowledge-building module was interactive and focused on developing the creative and organisational skills of trade union members.

Also today, 6 September, a meeting with graduates of previous editions of the school was organised at the Labour Institute as part of an evaluation meeting of the Trade Union School of Moldova training project. The participants exchanged views on the experience gained at the School, its impact on the professional development of the graduates, and discussed various ideas and proposals for improving the process of training trainees at the Trade Union School of Moldova.

From 2012 to date, the Trade Union School of Moldova has 172 graduates, representatives of 21 regional trade union centres.

 It is necessary to mention that the graduates of the Trade Union School of Moldova have prepared more than 100 individual or group projects, which were implemented in economic units or trade union federations, focused on solving urgent problems of employees, trade union members.

We remind that the Trade Union School of Moldova is an educational project of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova, implemented jointly with the Labour Institute, which aims to develop the skills and knowledge of active trade union leaders and members. CNSM started the implementation of the Trade Union School of Moldova in 2012. The initial format of the school was taken from trade unionists in Austria and adapted to the realities and needs of trade union members in Moldova.