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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A Unified Registry of Collective Agreements Should Be Established in the CIS
A unified registry of collective agreements in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will enable the regulation of labor relations at a cross-border level, according to the General Confederation of Trade Unions. The proposal by GCTU to include the creation of such a registry in the draft Plan of Activities for the Year of Social Development and Quality of Life in the CIS was approved by participants of the working group of the Advisory Council on Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Population of the CIS Member States. The working group meeting took place today at the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk, using video conferencing.
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Nominal Wages in the CIS Show Steady Growth
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan lead with the highest growth rates
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have recorded the highest growth in nominal average wages in the CIS, with increases of 27.5% and 20.3%, respectively, compared to the first half of last year.
Experts from the GCTU analyzed wage data in the CIS, published in the latest report Socio-Economic Situation of the CIS Countries in the First Half of 2026 by the CIS Statistical Committee.
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Belarusian Trade, Consumer Cooperation and Entrepreneurship Workers' Union Turns 95
The Trade, Consumer Cooperation and Entrepreneurship Workers' Union of the Republic of Belarus celebrated its 95th anniversary on July 31. Today, the union unites over 143,000 industry workers across the country, with 1,681 primary trade union organizations. The union reliably protects the rights of industry workers in the Republic and actively operates on the international stage as part of the International Confederation of Trade Unions of Workers in Trade, Catering, Consumer Cooperation, and Various Forms of Entrepreneurship.