The Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions (CMTU) delivered demands and suggestions to the Cabinet regarding the action plan of the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) and amending the state budget, demanding salary increases for state servants. The CMTU demanded that the Cabinet protect the salaries, pensions, and allowances of state servants from inflation; to index their salaries every year; to maintain the tugrug’s purchasing power; protect consumers; and to work together with the public and businesses on a law on pricing legislation to create fair market competition. The CMTU underlined the need to approve the funding of 90 billion MNT when amending the nation’s state budget to increase the salaries of state servants. Medee.mn spoke to the President of the CMTU, Kh.Amgalanbaatar, about their demands. Does the Cabinet have the opportunity to issue 90 billion MNT to increase salaries for state servants? As the Government of Mongolia they need to carry out stable activities. That’s why they have the opportunity to increase people’s revenue. We are submitting the suggestion to resolve this issue by amending the state budget. The CMTU is aware that the nation’s economic situation is challenging, but the Cabinet needs to fulfill its obligations. Ahead of the elections, the MPP made a big promise to the public that it would increase salaries and preserve jobs. The CMTU suggests the MPP not fire state servants illegally. We are not only delivering our demands and suggestions, but we are ready to cooperate. We will submit any further suggestions to the Cabinet. Last year, the CMTU submitted similar demands to the former cabinet. How were they implemented? The Government for Changes and Government for Solutions implemented several things. In particular, we worked on creating a system for employing educated and professional personnel. We have cooperated in preserving people’s jobs. The 2015 to 2016 labor, government, and society tripartite consensus was approved. How is its implementation going? It was approved. Unfortunately, the approval of laws related to increasing salaries, preserving, and protecting jobs didn’t progress and the elections took place. Our union believes that the new Cabinet is obliged to continue the duties of the former cabinet. We demand the resolution and inclusion of the 90 billion MNT required for raising the salaries of state servants in upcoming budget amendments. How many complaints have you received so far about state servants being illegally fired? Staff restructuring, which is carried out under the power of state secretaries, hasn’t started yet. The Cabinet spoke about the possibility of saving 5.4 billion MNT by eliminating staff redundancies, which means that they are going to adhere to a policy of cutting the number of staff. However, we hope that they will discuss the issue at the parliamentary level. The MPP promised to maintain the state’s sustainability, but if they don’t fulfill their promise, the CMTU will fully work to protect the interests and rights of state servants.