International Labour Conference: Human at the Center of Technological Progress Main News
On June 1, the 114th session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) began its work in Geneva.
Delegations fr om 187 ILO member states gathered in Switzerland to participate in the event. The conference includes the heads of GCTU member organizations including national trade union centers of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia.
The three venues of the Geneva International Conference Centre, the Palais des Nations, and the ILO headquarters gathered delegates discussing issues critical to the global community: decent work in the platform economy, respect for rights, ensuring equality and inclusion, and, in a broader sense, social justice in the context of the spread of artificial intelligence (AI).
On the first day of the 114th ILC session, ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo presented the report "A Moment of Choice: Using Artificial Intelligence for Decent Work." The study focuses on AI, which enhances productivity, opens up prospects for workers and businesses, but also raises concerns that its implementation could make work an exception rather than the rule.
"Technological progress is not an insurmountable force. Political decisions, institutions, and governance matter. By uniting governments, employers, and workers, we can promote a human-centered approach to artificial intelligence, wh ere people remain at the heart of the era of technological progress," Gilbert Houngbo believes.
The report is published on the organization's website and will be discussed during plenary sessions. One of the speakers will be Margarita Usova, Deputy General Secretary of the GCTU.
The 114th session of the International Labour Conference will conclude on June 12. Earlier, the GCTU delegation presented the position of the CIS countries' trade unions at the V Eurasian Economic Forum in Astana. The theme of the forum was also artificial intelligence and the place of the EAEU in the global digital race.
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
The General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) proposed adding a special section to the 2028 CIS Year of Social Development and Quality of Life preparation plan, dedicated to events aimed at improving social partnership.
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.