During the first months of 2016 132 recorded cases of labor protests in 57 regions (excluding Moscow and St. Petersburg). They are shown in the study by experts of the Center for economic and political reforms (CEPR) “Map labor protests in the regions of the Russian Federation” presented on Tuesday. The study made on the basis of the analysis of media reports.
This is the first such report from the centre, so the dynamics of labor protests in the regions is not given. However, according to the head CEPR Nikolai Mironov, compared to the middle of last year, labor protests became twice more.
Under the labor protests experts understand CEPR meetings, pickets, strikes about worsening working conditions, the dissolution of the enterprises, dismissals, wage arrears. The tense situation experts see in industrial production.
The most frequent reason for dissatisfaction (50% of protests), according to experts, is the delay of salaries.
Most of the protests in January—February accounted for Samara, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Kirov region. Followed by Perm, Transbaikalian and seaside edges, the Astrakhan, Volgograd and the Bryansk region. The second ten of the protesting regions, the authors of the report included the Ivanovo, Leningrad, Orenburg and Saratov region, as well as Omsk and Amur regions, the republics of Mari El and Khakassia.
Experts cite data of Rosstat, according to which on March 1, 2016, the arrears of wages in the country amounted to 3.3 billion rubles. However, these figures are underestimated, says the head of CEPR Nikolay Mironov.
In the Samara region a situation with payment of salaries and reductions very difficult, I agree, the Deputy of the Samara provincial Duma Deputy Stepan Filatov, who is the Secretary municipal Committee of the Communist party in Togliatti in a protest action and relations with civil society organizations. Most affected are those who work in the automotive industry and construction enterprises, said Filatov, in particular for forming AVTOVAZ.
The Deputy of legislative Assembly of Sverdlovsk region from the “Fair Russia” Igor Danilov is convinced that the situation in Sverdlovsk region is not more and not less critical than in other regions.
The mood of crisis-affected people very quickly picked up and used by politicians ahead of elections as political capital, resents Daniel.
In the Samara region to take to the streets began the Communists, says the Communist Filatov, the other party protests against wage cuts is not carried out, he says. The Deputy from the Communist party Valery Rashkin said that the party will use the information from the report to protect the rights of workers.
Communists will use labor protests in his favor in the elections to the state Duma, says political analyst Alexei Makarkin. For this they have built organizational structure with extensive experience in electoral activities — district committees, regional committees — which have remained from the Communist party and which will help them to work with the protest groups, he recalls. The electorate of the Communist ideology and Marxist-Leninist, the second is the protest voters, who vote for the CPRF as for the opposition, and the party seeking it to match, notes the analyst.
