Inspections in Budget Organisations

In 2019, according to the order of the Minister of Employment and La-bor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, No. 263 dated December 21, 2018, there 7,410 inspections were conducted in budgetary organizations and 48,800 violations were identified.

FAIR HIRING: TOOLS AND MECHANISMS

Child and forced labor is a problem in many countries, including developed ones. Therefore, the issues of warning and prevention of this socially unacceptable phenomenon in our country have always been resolved and are resolved at the state level.

One of the effective measures to eliminate forced labor in the cotton industry is the introduction of modern market mechanisms, including wages, which contributes to an increase in the number of voluntary cotton pickers.

Participation in cotton picking is one of the most predominant types of seasonal agricultural work in Uzbekistan. Remuneration is made almost immediately after completion of work, usually within two to five days, which allows pickers to have on hand a constant cash income during the cotton campaign.

According to surveys conducted during the Third Party Monitoring of the International Labor Organization, the interviewed collectors clearly indicate that they prefer, where possible, frequent payment in cash, unlike, for example, receiving payment by bank transfer, or in the form of various household goods or items. The monitoring results showed that increased pay for cotton pickers is particularly beneficial for women in rural areas. For many of them cotton
harvesting is the only opportunity for additional income that comes at their disposal and can be used for the benefit of families .

In order to stimulate voluntary cotton picking in accordance with the recommendations of the ILO and the World Bank, in 2017 for the first time in the history of the republic’s cotton production, a differentiated form of remuneration for manual picking of raw cotton was used, providing for an increase in the amount of payment from 450 to 700 soums per kg, depending on level of fulfillment of obligations under a contract agreement.

If in 2016 the wages of collectors amounted to 280 soums / kg for the entire period of the campaign, then in 2017 for the first collection wages were 450 soums / kg (+ 61%), 550 soums / kg for the second collection (+ 96%) and 700 soum / kg during the third cotton harvest (+ 150%). A similar mechanism of wage differentiation also had a stimulating effect on the voluntary involvement of pickers.

In 2018, the pay of collectors was also increased and set in amounts from 650 to 1000 soums per kg. And in 2019, the payment for manual collection ranged from 800 soums / kg during the first harvest to 1200 soums / kg during the second harvest. Thus, the fee for manual cotton picking this year increased at least 4 times compared to 2015 (the fee in 2015 was 200 soum / kg).

In regions with a small population, special conditions have been established since 2018. In particular, in all districts of Jizzakh, Tashkent and Syrdarya regions, as well as in some areas of Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya regions, collectors received an additional 150 soums for each kilogram of cotton, which was topped by additional 150 soums for their food. Thus, the premium amounted to 300 soums. For this, 246 billion soums were allocated from the State Support Fund for Agriculture of the Ministry of Finance .

In 2019, a payment of 600 thousand soums was established for per one ton of machine collection. In 2018, this indicator was 400 thousand soums per a ton. In addition, the leaders of units consisting of temporarily unemployed citizens are provided with a payment of 2 million soums, managers of cotton picking centers in the amount of 3 million soums of labor remuneration from the budget of the Public Works Fund under the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations.

Also, in order to increase the material interest of farmers, it was recommended that they themselves determine the remuneration for manual picking of raw cotton in the area allocated to them, but not lower than the price set by the State.

On average, each cotton picker spends 21 days at the harvest, but the funds earned during this time account for 39.9 percent of their annual income.

How forced child labor was combated in 2018-2019

In order to combat forced labor, the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations together with the International Labor Organization carried out followings in 2019:

• 600 banners and 200,000 flyers were prepared;

• the General Directorates of Employment held press conferences in 14 regions with representatives of the media and civil society;

• a republican press conference was organized (September 13, 2019);

• a video “On the Eradication of Forced Labor” was prepared, which is broadcasted on the official channels of the country;

In the purpose of quick response:

• “1176”, the hotline of the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan was introduced;

• the website of the State Labor Inspectorate www.dmi.mehnat.uz was created;

• a Telegram group was created with the participation of representatives of the State Labor Inspectorate and human rights defenders.

DESIGN OF BANNERS AND POSTERS INSTALLED IN THE SETTLEMENTS OF DISTRICTS (IN BAZAARS, ON MAIN STREETS, ETC.):

Also, by the Decree UP-5775 of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated July 30, 2019 “On additional measures to further improve the system of combating human trafficking and forced labor”, the National Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Forced Labor and its subcommittee were created.

On October 15, 2019, at the first meeting of the Subcommittee, chaired by the Minister of Employment and Labor Relations N. Khusanov, the main tasks, rights and obligations of this commission, as well as an action plan and a media plan were discussed.

In accordance with the Order# 235-ICh of the Minister of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan from September 23, 2019, four working groups were established to monitor with purpose of detection of cases of forced labor in all regions of the country.

During the period from September 23 to October 30 2019, the National working groups carried out the followings:

••monitoring was carried out in 221 regions;

••in 165 cases, officials were brought to administrative responsibility;

••administrative fines of 523 million soums were imposed;

••73 regulations issued;

••19 submissions were submitted to higher authorities.