On March 30, the leadership of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (CNSM) held a meeting with representatives of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), focusing on strengthening cooperation in trade union recruitment, exchange of best practices, and enhancing organizing capacities.

The meeting was attended by Igor Zubcu, President of CNSM; Vlad Canțîr, President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Public Service Employees of the Republic of Moldova (SINDASP); Angela Otean, President of the “SINDLEX” Federation of Trade Unions of Moldova; Ecaterina Manastîrschi, President of the “Sindindcomservice” Federation of Trade Unions of Workers in Social Services and Goods Production; Victoria Niță, President of the “Sindenergo” Trade Union Federation; Natalia Chihai, Vice-President of the “Sănătatea” Trade Union Federation of Moldova; as well as Valeriu Cazacu, Head of the International Relations, Media and Information Technologies Department of CNSM.

From EPSU, the meeting was attended by Agnieszka Ghinararu, Recruitment and Organising Team Coordinator, and Monica Avram, Administrative and HR Assistant for South-East Europe.

During the discussions, Igor Zubcu, President of CNSM, appreciated the strong cooperation between the Confederation and EPSU and presented the Confederation’s main achievements in recent years, the current state of social dialogue, as well as the objectives of the campaign “Together – shield and voice!”. He also emphasized that trade union recruitment remains a constant priority for the trade union movement in the Republic of Moldova and reiterated CNSM’s openness to further strengthening cooperation with EPSU through the exchange of experience and best practices.

Representatives of the national sectoral trade union centers affiliated with EPSU in the Republic of Moldova highlighted the main challenges they face, including attracting young people to trade unions, negotiating and concluding sector-level collective agreements and collective labour contracts, the state of social dialogue, combating interference in trade union activities, and strengthening organizational capacities.

For their part, EPSU representatives presented recruitment initiatives developed with the organization’s support and expressed their willingness to launch joint actions, particularly in the field of training trainers and trade union leaders. They also emphasized the importance of applying modern recruitment methodologies tailored to the current needs and interests of employees.

In the Republic of Moldova, six national sectoral trade union centers are affiliated with EPSU: the Federation of Trade Unions of Public Service Employees of the Republic of Moldova (SINDASP), the “Sănătatea” Trade Union Federation of Moldova, the “SINDLEX” Federation, the “Sindindcomservice” Federation, the “Sindenergo” Federation, and the Federation of Trade Unions in Energy and Industry.

It should be noted that on March 31 – April 1, Chișinău will host the EPSU Constituency meeting, bringing together delegates from several European countries. The European Federation of Public Service Unions brings together over 250 trade union organizations across Europe and represents approximately 8 million workers in the public services sector.