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On Wednesday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with union representatives. The meeting discussed the need for better protection of workers after the quarantine: measures are needed to reduce unemployment, protect against unemployment and increase employment.
After the meeting, Simonas Krėpšta, Senior Advisor to the President and Head of the Economic and Social Policy Group, Inga Ruginienė, President of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, Kristina Krupavičienė, President of the Lithuanian Trade Union Solidarity and Kęstutis Juknis, President of the The Lithuanian union Sandrauga shared their ideas.
Won’t the recovery be so fast?
S. Krėpšta recalled that the unemployment rate in Lithuania exceeds 9% and job creation has slowed down.
“We need to discuss what the job market will be like, what the economy will be like after the quarantine. Even if you can run a business, it will not be easy to pick up your feet from the start.
<...> We need to improve the situation for those who lost their jobs during the quarantine period. Here we discussed possible changes in unemployment insurance. And it is very important to pay attention to the most vulnerable groups: the young, the disabled, the elderly, “said the President’s Advisor, adding that the President has introduced certain amendments to the law to improve the situation of disabled people who have lost their jobs.
According to S. Krėpšta, the meeting also discussed how to accelerate job creation. Future EU funds could be used for this.
“There is a real need for these measures to work after quarantine. They would probably be of a different design, of a different nature than we currently have, during the quarantine period. However, those measures are necessary for the labor market to recover as soon as possible and the well-being of employees improves as soon as possible, because we see that unemployment rates are not good, “said the president’s adviser.
According to him, I am glad that there are initiatives aimed at improving this situation.
The adviser warned that after the quarantine, economic and business recovery, the decline in unemployment may not be as rapid as we can hope, and it may take at least two years to return to the status quo without additional measures.
It is not clear how the money will be used.
According to I. Rugininė, today’s current affairs make us talk about one of the most important documents: the European Economic Recovery Plan, which Lithuania is due to present in April. The president regretted that the unions had not seen the plan. And it is very important to see who will receive the funds.
“I think it is very, very important to see how the European support will be used here in Lithuania. What measures exist and what funds exist and whether the final beneficiary will in fact be that ordinary citizen, the worker. We do not see this big picture and time will it is ending. The impression is that the government is not prepared for this measure, “said the president of the confederation.
I. Rugininenė also noted that women suffered the most during the pandemic, women lost the most income, the figures are “cruel” for women:
“Women are apparently one of the groups that have suffered the most because reconciling family and work relationships has really been very difficult. Unfortunately, when reading the government’s action plan, I don’t see any specific measures to help women in particular. “
According to I. Ruginienė, many more women were laid off than men and their income also decreased further.
“It just came to our attention then <...> Measures must be taken so that those who do not have enough experience do not run out of income, ”said the president of the confederation.
He regretted the lack of clarity on the additional measures that will be applied after the quarantine formally ends. A year ago, there was a fuse that employers had to maintain at least 50 percent. the jobs did not work.
“There have been a number of abuses and group firings. That fuse was overlooked with great success. Therefore, when planning the current post-quarantine period, it is necessary to take this into account and provide stronger guarantees to maintain the jobs, ”commented I. Ruginienė.
He stressed that testing workers was critical during a pandemic. He recalled that according to the law, the employer is responsible for this. Therefore, they should evaluate employees because it is important to them and not expect support from the state. The president advised the staff on the tests to speak up and educate the staff more. Public authorities should also play a bigger role in this.
“Compulsory tests could be, but vaccination should be voluntary”, I. Ruginienė is convinced.
He acknowledged that there are currently layoffs in companies, but is surprised that workers who use aid measures also have layoffs: they do not pay wages, for example.
K. Juknis noted that many companies and organizations now apply full-time accounting, even though they do not have continuous work. As a result, people are forced to work overtime but are not adequately paid.
K. Krupavičienė stressed that urgent help is needed for sectors that still have a chance to survive. For example, poultry farmers and poultry processors.
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