Mirvari Gahramanly: "Azerbaijani workers receive an insignificant part of the oil pie as compared to foreigners"

She explained this by saying foreigners see that laws are not working in Azerbaijan.

"Rights of oil workers are also violated in SOCAR, therefore, a foreigner thinks "why should I care for an Azerbaijani worker", if his state does not care about him? I would better care about my compatriot! This caused the situation, which we witness now".

According to Gahramanly, SOCAR oil workers, whose average wage nears AZN 443 (about $521) by data of 2007 seem to live well. Their wages are 2.4 times higher than the average wage throughout the country and was raised by 25% in 2007.

"At the same time, we should not forget that in 2007 inflation rate was 19% by official data and 28.9% by unofficial data. It means that the living conditions of oil workers have either risen by 6% or dropped by almost 4%. In the result, the oil workers, whose labor is hard, do not feel a real rise in their living conditions. Moreover, this is deteriorated by the violations of their rights - illegal dismissions for example. Thus, a strange process has been observed in SOCAR since 2006- oil workers are dismissed and replaced by new people who are not specialists or specialists of the non-oil profile", said she and added that the most frequently violated articles of the Labor Code are 45 and 47th, which prohibits the conclusion of temporary labor contracts if the work of an employee will be permanent. According to the human rights activist, SOCAR dismissed 600 people last year due to this violation.

"This is a wide field for corruption. In particular, some of the dismissed told us in the Committee that they were replaced by people, who pay from AZN 5000 to 5000", said Gahramanly.

As for the foreign companies, she said they held a monitoring in the foreign companies and can state firmly that the rights of Azerbaijani workers are frequently violated.

"Working overtime and depriving of vacations, as well as the conclusion of incorrect labor codes, when workers are not unable to get insurance against work accidents and are dismissed whenever the management wants, have become common.

Foreigners are hired even as assistants though in Azerbaijan there are many qualified specialists and workers. It is nothing but a discrimination of Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan", said the human rights activist.

She noted that seeing this injustice, Azerbaijani oil workers hold frequent strikes, as otherwise, their appeals are not considered.

"I'm astonished at the attitude of foreigners towards Azerbaijanis - the people of the country, where they earn much money.

I remember the case - a company by the help of our workers completed a phase of a project ahead of time, which implied a great bonus. And what do you think the company management did? They divided money among English and Scottish and invited Azerbaijanis to a cafe.

Thus, our workers receive an insignificant part from the oil pie", said she.

As for the rights of women and gender problem, she said the rights of women, working in the oil sector, are frequently violated.

"SOCAR accounts for 64,000 workers including 14,000 women, though five years ago they were 20,000 against 58,000 workers. At the same time, women are not allowed to leading positions. What else can we say if a list of those who oil workers who were awarded on September 20 included only 2 women?

If we treat our citizens like that, how can we demand a respect for Azerbaijani workers from foreigners?", concluded she.

/Day.Az/