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
-
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.
-
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
-
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.