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On December 3-4 Moscow hosted a regional conference “Building Democracy and Trade Union Rights in the NIS (new independent states) countries”. It was organized by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the ITUC’s Pan-European Regional Council initiated by the Confederation of Labour of Russia (KTR) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR).
The conference brought together over 150 trade union leaders and activists from Russia, Belarus, Georgia and other post-Soviet states, governmental officials, employers and leaders of international trade union movement.
The ILO was represented by Kari Tapiola, ILO special adviser, Dimitrina Dimitrova, ACTRAV desk officer for Europe, Sergejus Glovackas, Senior Workers Activities Specialist at the ILO DWT and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ILO experts spoke at the conference and facilitated penal discussions.
The conference delegates mapped out strategies at the Moscow event to ensure that the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining are respected.
Participants of the conference admitted that the global economic crisis caused and in many respects motivated attack on workers’ rights and called for drafting mechanisms to counteract this pressure.
They adopted a final resolution on the development and protection of fundamental rights of workers. The document, in particular, stresses the need for ensuring the full-fledged implementation of the ILO Conventions in the region - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention,1948 (No. 87) and Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) and for promoting the ratification of ILO’s fundamental conventions in all countries of the region.
Moreover, participants proposed to organize under the ILO aegis training programmes for law enforcement agencies and develop guidelines on ratified conventions and their implementation in national legislations.
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