Decline in working standards of civil staff may cause accidents

15.12.2010 Civil staff of Russian Armed Forces has been reduced due to numerous reforms, said Mikhail Babin, chairman of Navy Trade Union Association. According to him, the situation is most critical in the Navy, writes Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

In the course of so-called "optimization", considerable part of Russian Armed Forces staff has been dismissed (about 30-40%); this fact sometimes negatively affects combat readiness. It is especially topical for the Navy, underlined Babin.

"Decline in working standards of a defense shipyard's craneman may cause accidents comparable to Kursk tragedy or even larger", said Mikhail Babin.

Meanwhile, the question is security of not only Russia but its neighbors too, he emphasized.

As was said by Anton Vasilenko, the chairman of Federation of Civilian Personnel Trade Unions, "current number of civilian crewmen in the Navy [i.e. auxiliary fleet which consists of civil staff] ensures neither observance of labor legislation nor safety of navigation". Civilian employees draw miserable salaries, outflow of qualified specialists from defense ministry goes on, and there are less and less young employees in military units.

Leaders of Murmansk region (where Northern Fleet is deployed) are well aware of the situation described by trade unions. Military commanders regularly make problems with clearing electric energy and heating accounts; that results in cutoffs for non-payment.