24.05.09

An overwhelming majority of the polled Russians - 81 percent - believe that their labor rights are not protected properly, as follows from the results of an opinion poll by the national public opinion studies center VCIOM. A tiny 9 percent have the opposite point of view.

Thirty three percent of the respondents said the trade unions caused no considerable influence on the employees' position, eight percent claimed the unions improved it considerably and 53 percent said there was no trade union local at their enterprise at all.

The sociologists say that the share of trade union members in the overall number of employed has reduced over the past four years from 30-34 percent in 2005-2007 to 23 percent this year.

Ever more Russians say they are not trade union members. Since 2005 the number of such respondents grew from 64 percent to 76 percent.

Most often trade union members use their union for getting fringe benefits - material support (30 percent) and discount vouchers to health resorts (20 percent). Only one in ten is inclined to use the union's help in resolving labor disputes.

Requests addressed to the trade unions for legal advice concerning labor affairs are extremely rare - 6 percent.

The VCIOM poll was conducted on May 9-10. The pollster questioned 1,600 men and women of age in 140 communities and cities in 42 territories of Russia. The statistical error margin was 3.4 percent.

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Source: Itar-Tass