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FNPR Newsletter. December 27, 2023

27.12.2023

192

27 December, 2023

Dear colleagues,

Our next newsletter regarding the situation in the trade union movement of the Russian Federation and current international events has coincided with the last period of 2023, which turned out to be filled with events capable of significantly affecting the internal and external social and political situation.

First of all, we note that Russian economic indicators have been more encouraging than the forecasts of early autumn. The GDP growth is expected to be 3.5% by the end of the year. Despite inflation, which is projected to reach 7% by the year's end, incomes of the population have been growing faster than that: at the end of October, the increase in real wages amounted to 7.4%.

In November, the level of unemployment reached a historical low of 2.9% as defined by the ILO. At the same time, imbalances at the labour market persist. Due to the acute shortage of workers, specialists and engineers, Russian employers are prepared to settle for higher incentive payments and expand social packages, thus increasing inflationary pressure.

The level of conflicts in the sphere of social and labour relations is also at a historical low. Conflicts between employees and employers tend to unfold mainly around wage indexation, changes in working conditions and work schedules. Against the background of a general recovery of the economy under sanctions pressure from the «collective West», the industrial sectors are showing convincing growth: manufacturing, mechanical engineering, and power industry grew by more than 20% and more. Research experts are describing the economic situation in the country as stable, with upward trends and minimal risks in the social and labour sphere.

The expected changes are taking place in domestic politics. The dates of the presidential elections have been determined, they will be held for three days from March 15 to 17. The nomination process has started. According to political analysts, all parliamentary political parties are ready to nominate their candidates. The current President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has agreed to participate in the elections and has already submitted the necessary documents to the Central Electoral Commission.

As early as the spring of 2023, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia expressed support to Vladimir Putin as a candidate for election in 2024 on the grounds that he was fulfilling his electoral promises, acted in the interests of the vast majority of the working people, actively supported the social partnership system, enjoyed support of the country’s multi-ethnic population and achieved high international recognition.

Independent sociological institutions in Russia have been showing a high level of trust in the incumbent President. According to the most reliable sources, such as the Public Opinion Foundation, as of early December 75% of respondents expressed confidence in Vladimir Putin with 77% giving a positive assessment of his performance as President.

In late November, the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre recorded the level of trust in Vladimir Putin at 78.6%. At the same time, the Levada Centre, a sociological organisation recognised as a foreign agent, published the level of approval of the President's actions at 85%.

On December 14, 2023 Vladimir Putin summed up the year’s results and answered questions from journalists and the people of Russia in a regular live broadcast, 20th in succession. The direct line with the people of Russia and the annual news conference with Russian and foreign media have been merged into a single event which lasted over four hours.

In his opening remarks followed by Q&A session, he highlighted the most important events of the outgoing year and spoke about the plans for the future. His most important statements concerned the further development of the country’s socio-economic system, achieving the goals of the special military operation in Ukraine, the development of international relations with partner countries, etc. The full text of the “direct line” is posted on the official website (http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/72994).

The special military operation in Ukraine remains an important factor determining both the internal and external agenda. Since the beginning of autumn, the failure of the widely publicised “counter-offensive” by the armed forces of Ukraine became increasingly obvious. Enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex have been systematically supplying the Russian army with all types of military equipment, ammunition and uniforms required for the purposes of the operation, while the Ukrainian leadership kept on begging for more and more weapons from their Western sponsors.

By the winter of 2023, the Ukrainian puppet regime brought the country to the brink bankruptcy. All the resources received by the budget of Ukraine from its own economic activity are spent on combat operations. According to official information from the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance, the Ukrainian budget does not have its own funds for any other purposes.

For all state activities, including the remuneration of public employees, the Ukrainian government receives funds exclusively through the foreign financial aid, the termination of which would mean the collapse of the entire Ukrainian financial system and the destruction of the nationalist regime which seized power in 2014 as a result of a coup d'etat.

For most Russian citizens, it is obvious that the United States and its NATO allies have been trying to use Ukrainian nationalists as a battering ram to inflict economic and political damage on our country in order to maintain their dominant position on the international scene after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But as the events unfold, it is clear that these plans will not be implemented.

Sober-minded Western politicians have already realised that Russia's defeat on the battlefield is impossible, but the time for negotiations with their participation was wasted, and every day there is less and less chance that the Russian authorities will go to any negotiations before achieving the objectives announced at the beginning of the special operation.

Russian industrial trade unions, as well as territorial trade union associations, continue to provide significant assistance to the families of mobilized soldiers and contract servicemen. They provide humanitarian and other aid to the new regions of Russia, as well as to active troops, trying to speed up the defeat of the enemy.

Events in the Middle East have had a noticeable impact on the position of the Ukrainian regime. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has distracted the attention of the Western community and forced the sponsors of the war against Russia to change their plans, as a result of which the US financial assistance to the Kiev regime became noticeably scarcer. Supplies of weapons to the Ukrainian army were partially frozen.

We have to note that Russian trade unions have repeatedly warned the national trade union centres of European and other countries against a reckless policy of supporting the nationalist Ukrainian regime at various international platforms. In our best judgement, the Zelensky regime will fall, leaving Europeans with many social and financial problems in their territories in addition to those caused by the disruption of economic ties with our country and rabid Russophobia, effectively closing the door to rapid restoration of relations in the post-conflict period.

Against the background of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the essential humanitarian aspects of the improper conduct of the military on the battlefield in Palestine have been highlighted. The reluctance to recognize the right of Palestinians to their own statehood, enshrined in UN General Assembly Resolution No. 181 of November 29, 1947, unjustified brutality, reckless destruction of civilians in the Gaza strip, disrespect for the laws and rules of war - all this together showed to the whole world the uselessness of the existing mechanisms of maintaining peace, the helplessness of human rights and other organisations established to protect civilian population from the horrors of war.

The world has witnessed the hypocrisy and double standards of the world’s largest media massively replicating staged stories about the non-existent «atrocities» of the Russian military in Ukrainian villages, and now shamefully turning a blind eye to the death of thousands of Palestinian children and civilians broadcasted almost live from the Gaza Strip.

Current developments in the Middle East are causing concern throughout the world, including in the Russian society. Russia is carrying out an important humanitarian mission not only seeking the release of hostages with Russian citizenship, but also providing humanitarian assistance to the peaceful Palestinian population hundreds of tons of which have been delivered by Russian aircraft to the Egyptian border and transferred to the Gaza Strip.

In this regard, Russian trade unions support the principle of the two States of Palestine and Israel as the only way to resolve this conflict and establish lasting peace.

As is known, the Russian Federation will assume the chairmanship of BRICS in 2024. This year marks the implementation of a new, extended format of BRICS. The last summit held in Johannesburg has approved the accession of six new countries to this international association: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Russian trade unions have started preparatory activity to invite national trade union centres of these countries to join the BRICS Trade Union Forum. Considering that the number of countries that have expressed interest in participating in BRICS is not limited to the states listed above and has already exceeded twenty, the FNPR is developing a platform for representatives of trade union centres of all those countries to take part in the BRICS Trade Union Forum. The first steps towards the creation of the BRICS Global Alliance of Trade Union have already been taken, and we will duly inform you as this project is elaborated in more detail.

On the eve of the New Year, Russian trade unions send you their best wishes of peace, health and every success in 2024!