How to Prevent "Serfdom" in the Platform Economy: A Study by the General Confederation of Trade Unions
The blurring of employment boundaries, the rejection of employer status, and the denial of basic social guarantees to workers affect millions employed in the platform economy, according to a new academic essay Social Dialogue in a Polycentric World by the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU).
Platforms disguise wage labor under the guise of "partner-performer" status, while workers registered as "self-employed" are deprived of pension contributions, sick leave, and paid vacations. Trade unions lose the ability to represent their interests due to the absence of formal employment contracts. As a result, platform companies cut costs by offloading social guarantees, shifting the burden of unpaid contributions onto the state budget—and ultimately, the citizens.
"The only solution that can make the social dialogue return to the path of sustainable development is to strengthen and modernize the organizational model of trade unions, enabling them to embrace informal collective actions emerging around employer platforms and to connect their representatives with government platforms," the study states.
The GCTU advocates for systemic change and is involved in drafting a model law for the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on "Platform Employment," which will define the status of platform workers and specify hazardous occupations where only formal employment contracts are permissible.
The General Confederation of Trade Unions has secured the inclusion of this document in the Comprehensive Program for Creating a Common Labor Market and Regulating Labor Migration among CIS member states. This ensures the initiative has the necessary political support and moves it from theoretical discussion to practical implementation.
"Sustainable economic growth in the CIS space requires the formation of a transnational system of social partnership, designed to ensure flexible regulation of labor migration, employment, and social protection for workers. To coordinate the activities of social partners in new political and technological realities, it is essential to create an ecosystem of decent work within the Commonwealth of Independent States. Defining approaches to building this ecosystem is the goal of this academic essay," the authors emphasize.
GCTU News
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Viktor Pinsky: GCTU Should Play a Leading Role in Organizing Trade Union Education in the CIS
Viktor Pinsky, Secretary General of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU), believes that the GCTU should take a leading role in developing a system for training, retraining, and upgrading the skills of personnel, exchanging experiences, and educating leaders and trade union activists across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
"We already have successful experience in organizing trade union education. This year over 400 people from six countries participated in the GCTU’s first two educational programs. The idea to launch such programs came directly from the requests of our member organizations. Internships are another in-demand format, especially among young people. They provide an opportunity to personally visit international organizations and see their work from the inside," said Viktor Pinsky.
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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.