The Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan and the International Labour Organization (ILO) provided an opportunity for trade union representatives from six industry sectors such as transport and construction, business and services, culture and sports, tourism, agriculture and information technology, to meet with their colleagues from the neighboring Kyrgyzstan to share experiences and explore new labour market realities after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The training seminar “Applying foresight as a tool for efficient strategic planning and organizing of informal workers” became a kind of platform for sharing experiences and determining the prospects for trade unions development in the context of current in socio-economic trends, and introduction of IT-technology.

"The Federation actively participates, and initiates policy and legislative changes aimed at achieving the principles of decent work and compliance with international labor standards. One example is the Federation's participation in the drafting of the Law on Employment, the Labour Code, and the Law on Trade Unions," said Bakhtiyor Makhmadaliev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan.

In the course of the training, the sectoral trade union representatives had an opportunity to meet workers whose labour relations are not officially formalized. The workers shared their experience, their vision of the problem, and their opinions on the possibility of joining the trade unions.

"The ILO does not aim to fight informal employment and informal sector workers. Our approach is to promote social justice and decent work, including by helping to formalize some, if not all, of the relationships between workers and employers," said Gocha Aleksandria, Senior Specialist in workers' activities of the ILO Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

As a result of the training, the participants developed an action strategy for the sectoral trade unions with an emphasis on recruiting informal workers into their ranks.

The training was organized within the framework of the ILO project "Transition from Informal to Formal Employment". The project supports the development of integrated, innovative strategies for transition to the formal economy within the framework of national employment and social protection policies in accordance with the ILO Recommendations No. 204 and No. 202 and the international labour standards.