GCTU HOLDS CONGRESS IN MOSCOW «TOGETHER – FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND A DECENT LIFE». Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
The 9th Congress of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) was held in Moscow’s Palace of Labour 7 September 2022. Attending the event were the delegates from the national trade union centres of the Newly Independent States and the industrial Trade Union Internationals (TUIs) representing about 30 million organised workers. Most of the delegates arrived in Moscow to participate in the Congress, and the rest of them took part in a videoconference.
As he delivered the activity report for the period under review (2017–2022), GCTU General Secretary Vladimir Shcherbakov noted that major and significant events took place in the world and in the region. Certainly, this affected the work of the Confederation. There is a slowdown in economic growth in most member-countries. The situation in the economy is aggravated by unprecedented Western sanctions against Russia and Belarus, response measures on their part. Despite this, the GCTU affiliated organizations actively participated in the development and implementation of national employment and retraining programs, insisted on protecting workers from unemployment. Changes have been made to labour legislation to ensure the rights of workers in remote work, which became widespread during pandemic.
The speaker also noted that the most important activity of the GCTU and its affiliated organizations was and remains the struggle for wage growth. Most states have reached a living wage and are now setting higher goals. The GCTU was constantly engaged in social policy issues: labour protection and health of workers, environmental protection, pension and social security of workers. It is impossible to solve the existing social and labour problems only through the efforts of trade unions. That is why it is so important to establish contacts and mutual understanding with social partners. The system of social partnership should be developed at all levels. At present, trade unions pay special attention to the humanitarian sphere. First of all, it is necessary to put a strong barrier to any attempts under various pretexts to separate our peoples who have lived together for centuries. Only strong modern trade unions can solve all tasks. As for the GCTU’s international activity, it was focused on three areas: interaction with trade unions of the world, participation in the work of the International Labour Organization, and cooperation with a number of specialized UN agencies.
The representatives of the GCTU affiliated national trade union centres of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and of industrial TUIs intervened in the debate on the report.
Congress recognized the work done by the Confederation as satisfactory, adopted the Guidelines for GCTU Activity in 2022-2027, and approved the slogan of the region’s trade unions for the next five years: “Together – for social justice and a decent life”.
In the coming period, the unions intend to:
- fight for a fair socio-economic policy;
- prevent deterioration in the social sphere;
- be open to constructive dialogue;
- ensure a combination of continuity and dynamism in the work;
- give a new breath to the GCTU’s activities in all areas.
Congress adopted the following resolutions:
- “Decent salary is a key factor of social justice”;
- “Occupational risk management and effective control are the basis of safe working conditions”;
- “For affordable and high-quality medicine”;
-“About the GCTU’s international activity. Tasks of the current moment”.
Congress formed the compositions of the Council and the Executive Committee of the GCTU, and approved the member list of its Control and Auditing Commission.
Alexander Korchagin (leader of the TUI of Workers in the Oil and Gas Industries, and in the Construction of the Oil and Gas Complex) was elected President of the GCTU. He will perform his functions on a voluntary basis.
Andrey Belyaninov was elected General Secretary of the GCTU.
The Council that met immediately after the Congress elected Natalia Podshibyakina, Vladimir Soloviyev and Valery Yuriyev as Deputy General Sedcretaries of the GCTU.