On 8 October, GCTU Deputy General Secretary Margarita Usova spoke at the "Changes in the World" session of the 8th All-Russian Intelligence Forum "Trade Unions. The 21st Century. An Era of Change" in Sochi, Russia. Her address centred on the fragmentation of the international trade union space and the need to preserve direct links between the trade unions of CIS countries.

"The more fragmented the international trade union space becomes, the more important it is to maintain direct professional dialogue between our organisations. I see this as one of the GCTU's key tasks today," Margarita Usova stressed.

The session also looked at country cases reviewed by the ILO Standards-Application Committee in 2024–2026, including cases concerning CIS countries. One of the topics was the situation around Belarus, whose case history at the ILO spans more than twenty years.

Tatyana Yakubovich, Chair of the Belarusian Trade Union of Education and Science Workers, spoke about the position of Belarusian trade unions, opening with an account of how the country's social partnership system is built and the role trade unions play in protecting workers' interests.

"We have an effective system of tripartite partnership. Trade unions and employers are full-fledged partners of the Government in shaping and implementing socio-economic policy," Tatyana Yakubovich noted.

She then turned to the ILO's decisions on Belarus and voiced disagreement with the way they were adopted.

"I want to stress, however, that all decisions on Belarus at the ILO were adopted by vote. This is a rather unusual approach for the ILO. The normal practice is to take decisions by consensus. But on the Belarus question, which is highly politicised, no consensus was reached among the organisation's members," she said.

On future international cooperation, Tatyana Yakubovich was emphatic: "We choose dialogue, not sanctions."

The "Changes in the World" session also featured Irena Isakova, Deputy Chair of the Trade Union of Health Workers of Kyrgyzstan, and Akram Ruzizoda, Chair of the Tajikistan Republican Committee of the "Tajiksanoat" Industrial Workers' Union.

The 8th All-Russian Intelligence Forum "Trade Unions. The 21st Century. An Era of Change" was held on 8–9 October in Sochi. Around 200 people took part, including trade union leaders and activists, representatives of the international trade union community and experts. Speakers announced included Sergei Chernogaev, Chair of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, Andrei Isaev, Deputy Chair of Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, and State Duma deputy, and economist Dmitry Belousov.

The forum was organised by the editorial team of the Solidarnost national trade union newspaper under the auspices of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia. The General Confederation of Trade Unions acted as the event's general partner for the third year running.