Creation of a Civilized Migration Space in the CIS Discussed at the St. Petersburg Labor Forum
As part of the business program of the 10th Anniversary St. Petersburg Labor Forum, the International Conference "Common Migration Space of the CIS States: Modern Challenges and Development Prospects" is being held. A delegation from the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) is taking part in the conference.
During the first plenary session of the conference, Margarita Usova, Deputy Secretary General of the GCTU, presented the trade unions' position on current issues on regulating labor migration in the formation of a common labor market in the CIS. "We need to ensure that all labor migrants involved in organized recruitment are protected and not in fact in a state of servitude," Usova said in her speech. The trade union leader noted that "the growing capitalization of the migrant labor market is leading to the emergence of new players. Transnational employment agencies, implementing various forms of temporary labor, are replacing informal structures based on connections between representatives of one nationality or another."
The conference is a key discussion platform for addressing global trends in the CIS labor market. The focus of the conference participants is on legal integration and security, including the formation of a common legal framework and joint efforts to combat illegal migration and human trafficking. Important topics include technological modernization, digital transformation of migration procedures, and ensuring social and medical guarantees for migrant workers.
Representatives of the GCTU are part of the working group preparing a draft of the new edition of the Concept of the Common Migration Space of the CIS member states. The GCTU has submitted a number of proposals to the text of the document. One of them is the provision on the need to conclude agreements between states with the participation of social partners to prevent abuses and deceptive practices in relation to the organized recruitment, employment, and employment of migrants, as well as the introduction of additional forms of control over the activities of private employment agencies by trade unions.
GCTU News
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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.
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GCTU Proposes Discussing Harmonization of National Social Partnership Systems at a Special Meeting of the Advisory Labour Council
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The proposals for the draft plan of the Year of Social Development and Quality of Life were discussed during the first meeting of the Working Group of the Advisory Council on Labour, Employment, and Social Protection of the Population of the CIS Member States. The meeting took place today at the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk via video conference.
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Viktor Pinsky: "The meeting of the General Confederation of Trade Unions Council in Dushanbe is a landmark event for the entire trade union movement of the Commonwealth of Independent States"
Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 1, 2026 – Viktor Pinsky, Chairman of the Commission of the Russian State Duma on Regulations and Organisation of State Duma Activities and General Secretary of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU), called the meeting of the GCTU Council, held on July 1 in Dushanbe, a landmark event for the trade unions of the Commonwealth of Independent States.