Creation of a Civilized Migration Space in the CIS Discussed at the St. Petersburg Labor Forum
As part of the business program of the 10th Anniversary St. Petersburg Labor Forum, the International Conference "Common Migration Space of the CIS States: Modern Challenges and Development Prospects" is being held. A delegation from the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) is taking part in the conference.
During the first plenary session of the conference, Margarita Usova, Deputy Secretary General of the GCTU, presented the trade unions' position on current issues on regulating labor migration in the formation of a common labor market in the CIS. "We need to ensure that all labor migrants involved in organized recruitment are protected and not in fact in a state of servitude," Usova said in her speech. The trade union leader noted that "the growing capitalization of the migrant labor market is leading to the emergence of new players. Transnational employment agencies, implementing various forms of temporary labor, are replacing informal structures based on connections between representatives of one nationality or another."
The conference is a key discussion platform for addressing global trends in the CIS labor market. The focus of the conference participants is on legal integration and security, including the formation of a common legal framework and joint efforts to combat illegal migration and human trafficking. Important topics include technological modernization, digital transformation of migration procedures, and ensuring social and medical guarantees for migrant workers.
Representatives of the GCTU are part of the working group preparing a draft of the new edition of the Concept of the Common Migration Space of the CIS member states. The GCTU has submitted a number of proposals to the text of the document. One of them is the provision on the need to conclude agreements between states with the participation of social partners to prevent abuses and deceptive practices in relation to the organized recruitment, employment, and employment of migrants, as well as the introduction of additional forms of control over the activities of private employment agencies by trade unions.
GCTU News
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For trade unions, March 8 is not just a day of spring and renewal.
For trade unions, March 8 is not just a day of spring and renewal.
For trade unions, March 8 is not merely a day of spring and renewal. Above all, it is an opportunity to once again reflect on the role of women in the world of work and in global development as a whole. Today, women perform 55% of the world’s total labor. They work longer hours than men—by 6 to 13 hours per week—and still earn less: on average, women’s wages amount to 66–84% of men’s wages, depending on the country. There is objective evidence that the more a country values women’s labor and the smaller the gender pay gap, the more developed its economy. A special issue is the “invisibility” of women’s domestic and, as experts call it, reproductive labor. This is why trade unions should continue to fight for justice for working women.
I congratulate all women of the CIS, my colleagues in the parliamentary corps, and women in trade unions on International Women’s Day. I wish you justice, decent work, success, and prosperity!
Viktor Pinsky
General Secretary of the General Confederation of Trade Unions, Member of the State Duma
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General Confederation of Trade Unions Proposes Securing Trade Union Rights in Enterprise Bankruptcy
General Confederation of Trade Unions Proposes Securing Trade Union Rights in Enterprise Bankruptcy
The General Confederation of Trade Unions’ (GCTU) proposals are reflected in the draft CIS model law “On Cross-Border Insolvency and Bankruptcy.”
Trade unions must have the right to represent and protect workers’ interests in the bankruptcy of international companies, according to Viktor Pinsky, Member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and General Secretary of the GCTU.
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GCTU Launches International Educational Program “Regulation of Labor Relations Based on Social Dialogue Principles”
GCTU Launches International Educational Program “Regulation of Labor Relations Based on Social Dialogue Principles”
The program is designed for specialists and trade union activists involved in collective bargaining at all levels of social partnership. It consists of four modules and will include about two hundred participants from six countries.
The first module—a lecture session—will be held on March 3, 2026. Leading experts from the General Confederation of Trade Unions, educational organizations of four national trade union centers (Belarus, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, and Uzbekistan), and Lomonosov Moscow State University will deliver lectures.