GCTU GETS NEW MEMBER-ORGANISATION
Friday, April 19, 2019
The meeting of the Council of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) held in Moscow 12 April 2019 considered the application of the Kazakhstan Confederation of Labour (KCL) for affiliation with the GCTU. Having heard the report on the outcome of the special GCTU mission that had visited Kazakhstan to study the issue on the spot, the Council decided to grant the request.
GCTU General Secretary Vladimir Shcherbakov reported on the activities of the Confederation in the period since April 2018. He said that, as participants in the elaboration of strategies and plans for socio-economic development in their respective countries, trade unions insisted on the need to create decent jobs, increase wages and pensions, and ensure the universal accessibility to quality education and health care.
However, despite this, the living standards and real incomes of the larger part of population remain low. Poverty is decreasing slowly, even among people who have jobs, while in several countries the number of poor is growing faster than the population. A number of affiliates had to rebuff attempts on trade union assets and property, defend their legitimate rights in court, and resort to organising mass protests of workers.
Council heard also a report on the socio-economic situation of the region’s states in the context of current global challenges, presented by the GCTU Deputy General Secretary Natalia Podshibyakina. In the course of the ensuing discussion, the heads of GCTU member-organisations representing national trade union centres and sectoral Trade Union Internationals informed the meeting of the situations evolving in their countries.
The Executive Committee said the GCTU would render support to its affiliates in their struggles for the rights and interests of working people, and, whenever necessary, promptly organise solidarity actions.