Alexander Korchagin: technology must serve people
On 13 October, Alexander Korchagin, President of the General Confederation of Trade Unions, addressed the International Strategic Session "Fair Transformations of the Labour Market in the Context of the Spread of Digital Technologies" in Minsk, Belarus.
He focused on how technological change affects employment, skill requirements and systems for protecting workers. Digitalisation, he noted, is changing the content of work itself, which makes lifelong learning an essential condition for professional resilience and social protection.
Korchagin described the experience of the Russian Oil and Gas Construction Workers' Union. The union participates in developing and updating professional standards, in the qualifications assessment system, in training trade union personnel and in building up mentorship. Union representatives also sit on workplace commissions for the implementation of professional standards, which deal with pay, changes in job duties, additional training and the preservation of workers' guarantees.
Today the oil and gas sector has 96 professional standards in place, covering more than 95% of the industry's workforce. The union also works with sector universities, colleges and technical schools, with 128 educational programmes having passed professional-public accreditation.
Korchagin paid particular attention to anticipatory training. A worker must be able to acquire new competencies before the introduction of technology substantially changes their job. Professional development, in his view, should become an integral part of social partnership.
"Technology must serve people. And our shared task is to make sure that professional development gives every worker the chance not merely to adapt to change, but to claim decent work, confidence in the future and their own place in professional life," Alexander Korchagin stressed.
He closed by highlighting the value of international exchange of practices. Trade unions in different countries may operate through different mechanisms, he said, but the task is a common one: to preserve people's access to decent employment, professional development and fair pay.
GCTU News
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