Statement of S.D. Hunchakian \”Sarkis Dkhrouni\” Student and Youth Union on the Occasion of May 1st.

Armenian workers’ rights record to date:

1. Protection of the rights of workers in Armenia is in a disgraceful condition

2. 8-hour daily working schedule is not observed nor enforced

3. Many “great entrepreneurs” do not consider their employees as workers, but as “serfs” who can be dismissed from their work in a purely arbitrary nature, and in violation of the law

4. Many companies are imposing workers to work devoid of a properly signed union contract and or employee contract

5. The state fails to educate workers of their legal rights

6. Trade unions in their official capacity should be involved in the protection of workers rights, but mostly unions are nonexistent or are in close collaboration with employers, making the pursuit of such rights ludicrous.

Moreover, in Armenia, May 1st celebrations are of purely symbolic nature and the state does nothing to correct this deplorable situation.

We, the Hunchakian youth, bearing socialist views, congratulate the Armenian workers and attest that the real owners of our nation are not the oligarchs but you, the ordinary citizens of the Republic of Armenia, who endure many hardship and adversity, and sweat to earn daily bread.