Unified Repository of Collective Agreements and Smart Contracts: GCTU Sets the Vector for Trade Union Digital Transformation
Trade unions risk losing their ability to effectively protect workers rights amid the growth of the platform economy without rapid digital transformation. Experts from the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) in the academic essay Social Dialogue in a Polycentric World view digitalization as a strategic priority, without which it is impossible to maintain the regulatory role of the trade union movement in labor relations.
«Achieving the goals of the integration process, including the establishment of unified standards in the socio-labor sphere, raises the question of the need for state regulators to facilitate the digital transformation of trade unions and their associations at both national and interstate levels», - the study states.
Against the backdrop of the rapid growth of platform employment and the widespread digitalization of the labor market, the main challenge is the lack of unified digital platforms that could ensure interaction among the three key parties—trade unions, employers, and governments. The shortage of resources for trade union organizations to develop their own IT infrastructure also takes its toll.
To overcome these barriers, the GCTU proposes systemic solutions. These include the creation of a Unified Repository of Collective Agreements - a publicly accessible information system for storing and providing services related to socially significant labor norms, developed through joint decisions by social partners in the labor sphere. The GCTU advocates for the introduction of smart contracts, which will automate the recording and monitoring of compliance with social guarantees in employment. Another demand to governments is to provide free hosting of trade union IT systems on state digital platforms.
The General Confederation of Trade Unions has initiated the updating of the model law On Social Partnership and proposed the establishment of a cross-border tripartite mechanism for labor regulation. The measures proposed by the WCTU could become a tool for preserving the role of the trade union movement in regulating labor relations in the digital economy.
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.