Unified Repository of Collective Agreements and Smart Contracts: GCTU Sets the Vector for Trade Union Digital Transformation
Trade unions risk losing their ability to effectively protect workers rights amid the growth of the platform economy without rapid digital transformation. Experts from the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) in the academic essay Social Dialogue in a Polycentric World view digitalization as a strategic priority, without which it is impossible to maintain the regulatory role of the trade union movement in labor relations.
«Achieving the goals of the integration process, including the establishment of unified standards in the socio-labor sphere, raises the question of the need for state regulators to facilitate the digital transformation of trade unions and their associations at both national and interstate levels», - the study states.
Against the backdrop of the rapid growth of platform employment and the widespread digitalization of the labor market, the main challenge is the lack of unified digital platforms that could ensure interaction among the three key parties—trade unions, employers, and governments. The shortage of resources for trade union organizations to develop their own IT infrastructure also takes its toll.
To overcome these barriers, the GCTU proposes systemic solutions. These include the creation of a Unified Repository of Collective Agreements - a publicly accessible information system for storing and providing services related to socially significant labor norms, developed through joint decisions by social partners in the labor sphere. The GCTU advocates for the introduction of smart contracts, which will automate the recording and monitoring of compliance with social guarantees in employment. Another demand to governments is to provide free hosting of trade union IT systems on state digital platforms.
The General Confederation of Trade Unions has initiated the updating of the model law On Social Partnership and proposed the establishment of a cross-border tripartite mechanism for labor regulation. The measures proposed by the WCTU could become a tool for preserving the role of the trade union movement in regulating labor relations in the digital economy.
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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Wage Standards in the CIS Must Reach a New Level
On September 10, the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) launched the development of a unified methodology for calculating the minimum consumer budget. The first meeting of the GCTU Executive Committee’s temporary working group on this initiative took place in Moscow.
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A Unified Registry of Collective Agreements Should Be Established in the CIS
A unified registry of collective agreements in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will enable the regulation of labor relations at a cross-border level, according to the General Confederation of Trade Unions. The proposal by GCTU to include the creation of such a registry in the draft Plan of Activities for the Year of Social Development and Quality of Life in the CIS was approved by participants of the working group of the Advisory Council on Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Population of the CIS Member States. The working group meeting took place today at the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk, using video conferencing.