How to Prevent "Serfdom" in the Platform Economy: A Study by the General Confederation of Trade Unions
The blurring of employment boundaries, the rejection of employer status, and the denial of basic social guarantees to workers affect millions employed in the platform economy, according to a new academic essay Social Dialogue in a Polycentric World by the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU).
Platforms disguise wage labor under the guise of "partner-performer" status, while workers registered as "self-employed" are deprived of pension contributions, sick leave, and paid vacations. Trade unions lose the ability to represent their interests due to the absence of formal employment contracts. As a result, platform companies cut costs by offloading social guarantees, shifting the burden of unpaid contributions onto the state budget—and ultimately, the citizens.
"The only solution that can make the social dialogue return to the path of sustainable development is to strengthen and modernize the organizational model of trade unions, enabling them to embrace informal collective actions emerging around employer platforms and to connect their representatives with government platforms," the study states.
The GCTU advocates for systemic change and is involved in drafting a model law for the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on "Platform Employment," which will define the status of platform workers and specify hazardous occupations where only formal employment contracts are permissible.
The General Confederation of Trade Unions has secured the inclusion of this document in the Comprehensive Program for Creating a Common Labor Market and Regulating Labor Migration among CIS member states. This ensures the initiative has the necessary political support and moves it from theoretical discussion to practical implementation.
"Sustainable economic growth in the CIS space requires the formation of a transnational system of social partnership, designed to ensure flexible regulation of labor migration, employment, and social protection for workers. To coordinate the activities of social partners in new political and technological realities, it is essential to create an ecosystem of decent work within the Commonwealth of Independent States. Defining approaches to building this ecosystem is the goal of this academic essay," the authors emphasize.
GCTU News
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GCTU Discusses Amendments to Confederation’s Charter
On September 15, Moscow hosted a meeting of the Working Group on Preparing Amendments and Additions to the Charter of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) at the Trade Unions Palace of Labor. Participants reviewed proposals from member organizations regarding necessary changes to the Confederation’s founding document.
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