FOR THE SOLIDARITY OF WORKERS IN A MULTIPOLAR WORLD

The 12th Congress of the FNPR states that, since the early 2020s, workers in most countries and regions of the world have been through tough trials, while for the international trade union movement these years' developments turned out to be a hard test for political awareness and responsibility.

The COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst for a large-scale humanitarian and socio-economic crisis, exposing the structural imbalances and weaknesses of the global economic system based on neoliberal principles. This crisis has been swelling for a long time. Now, the world has paid a high price for decades of ignoring warnings, including from trade unions, that neo-liberal doctrines should be abandoned as quickly as possible.

Since 2022, the prevailing political forces of the Western countries have initiated a new international crisis, not only socio-economic and humanitarian, but also a military and political one. The main target of the attack was Russia which, faced with the need to protect its citizens in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula and to defend its own sovereignty, was forced, as a consequence, to launch a special military operation.

The disruption of economic ties and growing global instability has severely impacted workers in many countries. In particular, peoples in Africa and other regions of the Global South were faced with the threat of food shortages, whereas European workers, turned into hostages of the EU ruling circles, have suffered from sharp price rises, production cuts and closures of many industries.

Regrettably, the leadership of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has proved incapable to resist the pressure of a number of its affiliates who took an anti-Russian stance. Thus, instead of fighting for peace and common interests of the working people, the ITUC leaders have distanced themselves from the search for a solution to the crisis and only contributed to its aggravation. Under the circumstances, the FNPR deemed it necessary to suspend its membership in that organisation.

However, further developments have shown that the attempts to demonise the FNPR and isolate Russian trade union movement on the international arena were not successful. Apart from being a member of the General Confederation of Trade Unions, bringing together national trade union centres and the GCTU-affiliated Trade Union Internationals in the CIS countries, the FNPR continues to actively participate in such important international forums as the Labour-20 and the BRICS Trade Union Forum. During 2023, the relations between the FNPR and trade unions in the countries of the Global South received a new impetus. In particular, relations with the largest trade union association in Africa, the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity and its affiliates, have been revitalised.

Before our eyes, the international trade union movement is acquiring new features and centres of attraction. The expansion of BRICS inter-state alliance is transforming BRICS Trade Union Forum into a globally significant centre for the consolidation of trade unions on the international arena, and Russia’s Presidency in that association in 2024 allows the FNPR to retain the role of a key partner in this process.

The Congress approves the activities of the FNPR to strengthen and expand ties with foreign trade unions sharing our values and principles. Notwithstanding the current crisis in the system of international relations, important socio-economic decisions will inevitably be discussed at the level of international organisations and interstate associations. Trade unions from different countries are still interested in representing and defending the consolidated position of workers in any format at the international level. Nowadays, as in any other historical period, the international solidarity of workers remains essential and must be maintained and strengthened.

The Congress declares that trade unions in any country should not become a tool or an appendage of political forces bent on subjugating the world to their dictates. The unipolar system of the second half of the last century has come to an end. Adherence to a multipolar world, equality and mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs, recognition of the right to choose one’s own civilizational identity - these are the principles that should be strictly observed both in inter-State relations, and in cooperation between trade unions of different countries. Only on this basis it is possible to unite the actions of the international trade union movement in struggle for common interests that are objectively inherent to the working people throughout the world. Among these interests, the Congress attaches particular importance to:

- respecting fundamental rights of all categories of workers regardless of the form of employment, including the right to organise and the right to collective bargaining; considering years of employers' attempts to revise international legal standards developed by the ILO, the Congress stresses that the right to strike is one of the workers' fundamental rights;

- strengthening and developing the mechanisms of social dialogue on the basis of tripartism at sectoral, national and international levels;

- pursuing economic policies aimed at creating quality jobs and ensuring economic growth by increasing effective demand on the part of workers and their families;

- ensuring decent wages for all categories of workers, including through the establishment and timely increase of the minimum wage;

- fighting poverty and inequality;

- protecting the rights and interests of working women and youth, non-discrimination in the labour market and the workplace;

- implementing a set of measures aimed at further formalisation of labour relations, as well as universal coverage of all workers by social protection systems regardless of the form of employment;

- ensuring comprehensive labour protection on every workplace;

- prioritising the creation of quality and productive jobs; the provision of high- quality vocational education for workers; social protection of vulnerable groups in the process of transition to new technological ways, as well as in connection with the implementation of measures aimed at protecting the environment.

The Congress expresses its readiness to develop cooperation with all national trade union centres, as well as with regional and global trade union associations sharing the above principles and interests of the international trade union movement.

The Congress draws particular attention to the continued activity of the FNPR within the International Labour Organisation. The result of the century-long work by the ILO was the creation of an extensive regulatory framework setting the standards for civilized labour relations around the world. The degradation of the ILO would be a disaster for the international trade union movement, for workers of all countries, including Russia.

The Congress reaffirms the FNPR's commitment to continue its long-term activity within the ILO seeking the widest possible, representative and equal participation of trade unions from different parts of the world in the work of the ILO. It is necessary to strengthen and develop the ILO as an organisation not involved in geopolitical conflicts which would authoritatively and impartially regulate labour relations in a multipolar world.

The Congress calls on the FNPR affiliates to be guided by the above principles and guidelines, to coordinate their international activity with the FNPR International Relations Department.

The Congress mandates the FNPR leadership to:

- contribute to the strengthening of BRICS Trade Union Forum as an important platform for the consolidation of international trade union movement by developing relations with trade union centres of BRICS countries both within the Trade Union Forum and on a bilateral basis;

- continue to work within the General Confederation of Trade Unions, seeking to develop it as an international structure promoting the exchange of experience between its member organisations and efficient protection of rights and interests of workers in the CIS countries;

- continue to participate in the Labour 20 and in other relevant international trade union forums and organisations if and when it is in the interests of the Russian trade union movement;

- give particular attention to the development of relations with trade union centres and regional trade union associations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East;

- hold consultations on the future of the international trade union movement with all interested parties while seeking equal cooperation with foreign trade unions and striving for the unity of international trade union movement based on the above approaches;

- continue to work within the ILO seeking to strengthen it as a politically impartial, representative and authoritative organisation;

- keep informing Russian workers about events taking place in the international trade union movement and the experience of foreign trade unions in protecting the social and economic interests of the working people.

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