National report of the Russian Federation at the 13th BRICS Trade Union Forum. Sochi, September7, 2024.
Dear delegates, participants in the BRICS Trade Union Forum!
First of all, let me thank you all for coming to our country for the 13th meeting of the Forum. You've certainly not wasted your time having put off your affairs and making this long journey to Russia. We will do our best to make your stay in Sochi comfortable, productive and useful. Welcome!
This year is a special one for BRICS: for the first time since 2010 it faces a significant expansion of its geography with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joining this interstate association as new members thus increasing the weight of BRICS in Africa and the Middle East.
It is logical that the motto of the Russian presidency this year is «Strengthening multilateralism for fair global development and security» because one of its main tasks is to fully integrate new countries into the diverse cooperation that has established within BRICS during the years of its existence.
The cooperation takes place in many directions and at various venues. The official plan for the Russian presidency envisages over 220 different events. Many useful contacts will accompany the meetings involving candidate- and partner countries of BRICS. The main event, the Leaders' Summit, will be held in the second decade of October in Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan), including a meeting in the outreach format expected to be attended by delegations from 36 states representing BRICS, the CIS, Latin America, East Asia and others.
For trade unions, the main event is the BRICS Trade Union Forum held annually on a rotational basis. Today’s 13th meeting is structured in a traditional format. Each delegation will present its national report providing reliable and up-to-date information on the country's labour movement, outlining the trade union position on major events, current state of economy and situation on the labour market, as well as the most pressing issues of concern for the unions.
This is a very important aspect of our work, as the exchange of information forms the foundation of our joint actions and lays the basis for the declarations to be adopted. At the end of today’s meeting we will hold an accession ceremony to welcome new members of BRICS Trade Union Forum in accordance with the adopted Procedure.
In the second plenary session we shall hear reports and hold a series of discussions on the most topical issues of the international politics from a trade union perspective. In our opinion, in order to advance labour relations, social dialogue and exchange of experience, a broad expert approach is needed. Achieving mutual understanding requires common vision and similar assessments of the major global trends.
As a result, the exchange of views with leading experts will allow us to move closer to consensus for joint work on the most important issues. It is precisely the building of consensus, being the most laborious and promising feature of BRICS that attracts attention of trade unions and countries around the world, is an alternative to a «rule-based world order».
I would like to emphasize the point that was made by the Deputy Foreign Minister and Russian Sherpa in BRICS Mr. Sergey Ryabkov in his welcome address. He said that the efforts of trade unions taking part in BRICS Trade Union Forum make a significant contribution to raising the profile of BRICS on the world stage. It is important that this fact be fully understood by all participants in the Forum, both its founding and newly admitted members.
Affiliation with the Trade Union Forum imposes additional obligations on all. These are not just the efforts we are making to hold regular plenary meetings. We can and should promote the ideas and working methods of the Trade Union Forum, which is an integral part of the BRICS community, to the outside world, and to apply them in our own internal affairs. The fundamental principles are set out in the Declaration on the establishment of the Forum and in the Procedure for the admission of new members: equality, mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs and consensus in the decision-making.
Joining the Forum provides additional opportunities to national trade union organisations. I am talking not only about sharing information and useful experience, familiarity with national features and effective practices of trade union work. This is also an expansion of horizons, the circle of communication and professional contacts, an opportunity to feel a real atmosphere creating a climate of trilateral relations among workers, employers and governments in the participating countries.
It is precisely to realise these opportunities that the Trade Union Forum is held in conjunction with BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' meeting. We believe that combining the two events will serve to enhance mutual understanding among their participants and facilitate the promotion of social dialogue to a higher level of social partnership.
Additional opportunities also lie in the fact that the voice of Trade Union Forum is increasingly heard by the BRICS heads of state. This is achieved not only by handing our Declarations over to BRICS heads of state, but also through personal meetings with trade union delegates which took place during BRICS Trade Union Forums in Russia, Brazil and South Africa. This contributes to further institutionalisation of the Trade Union Forum.
One point I'd like to make here is that the institutionalisation of BRICS Trade Union Forum is not a one-time event similar to the award of a plaque or a pennant to a permanent participant. It is a process that continuously accompanies trade union activities, just as it happens in our relations with employers at workplaces. The unions are only recognised when they have a voice, when their activities truly reflect the interests of the membership they represent, and when that voice is aimed to protect the workers' legitimate rights.
BRICS is constantly expanding and developing. It covers more and more areas of work. If at an early stage of its development the attention was focused on economic issues – creation of the New Development Bank, a currency reserve pool and its own payment system similar to SWIFT, the collaboration has subsequently included such areas as research, education, healthcare, sports and media development, universal security and so on. Today it is difficult to identify areas where cooperation between the relevant authorities of BRICS countries have not been established and would not be systematic.
This places additional responsibilities on the unions participating in BRICS Trade Union Forum, as our desire for true institutionalisation should correlate with increasingly expanding interaction among BRICS countries and not be confined only to the formats established over the years. We need to think out and agree on the forms and mechanisms of formation of the Forum's own international profile, which will facilitate the process of its institutionalisation in both external and internal environment.
I am certain that the 13th BRICS Trade Union Forum will be a good starting point for an active full-scale integration of new organisations, whose representatives are present in this room, and will allow national trade union centres that are yet to join the Forum to have a clearer idea about the forms and areas of our work.
Let me take this opportunity to inform you that the Russian Federation's economy, despite more than 16 thousand sanctions imposed against our country by the so-called collective West, has been growing steadily by 5% in recent months which should lead to 3-4% GDP growth by the end of the year.
Real incomes rose by 9.6% in the second half of the year. Taking into account the expected annual inflation to be around 5%, it can be concluded that our country stands up to economic pressure from the outside, using the current situation to accelerate integrated technological and industrial development.
We are certainly not happy about many international supply chains being disrupted, and that the exchange of technologies is severely limited. We see that the threat of secondary sanctions has a negative impact on our partners with whom we have friendly relations. But we are convinced, and keep proving it in our everyday work, that the economic and political struggle launched against us cannot be won. All those involved will suffer losses, and it remains to be seen how these challenges will be endured by the countries that have unleashed this economic war.
We often report record low unemployment. In July it stood at 2.4%. One could say that this is an outstanding result, but Russian trade unions view this quite differently. It is a matter of labour shortage, which is only partially temporary. The main reason for the shortage of workers is the transformation that swept our country at the end of last century: it was in the 1990s that the conditions for a «demographic pit» were created, which could not be rapidly overcome.
Some experts call the wage growth in the Russian economy a "wage revolution", but trade unions have a different approach to this process, too. A significant factor in this growth is the outflow of specialists to the defence industry where the remuneration rate is well above the early decade average. High incomes in this sector raise the wage bar across the economy, but there is little reason for joy, as productivity across the economy did not improve. It is clear that we will soon be faced with the challenge of reducing employment in the defence sector.
Today it seems that our economy has to go through an import substitution process in critical sectors. Ensuring technological sovereignty in a number of areas, including digital development, remains a critical challenge. In fact, the country should be re-industrialised based on its own scientific and technological potential, and this will be our answer to the demographic challenge.
Russian trade unions are not naïve, they understand that comprehensive development of the country's economy in conditions of autarchy, full self-sufficiency and isolation from the outside world for a country like Russia is impossible. International cooperation based on a multipolar world order, development of mutually beneficial relations with states that adhere to the principles of equality, respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs – these are the key fundamentals underlying the founding of BRICS. It is on this basis that our state is trying to build its foreign policy. Russian trade unions build their participation in BRICS Trade Union Forum on a similar basis, and that is why we are discussing our common problems here today.
In conclusion, I would like to comment on the upcoming meeting of BRICS Ministers of Labour and Employment. The topics for discussion are close and clear for the unions. The ministerial agenda includes:
- development of a system of vocational guidance and lifelong professional education for the entire population;
- platform employment: the role in the labour market and the problems of regulating the work of platform workers;
- ensuring safe work and social security for employees;
- development of social support for the citizens of BRICS countries. Modern tools of social policy.
The organisers of the ministerial meeting on the Russian side have invited a large delegation from the Trade Union Forum to attend. I believe that our participation will be useful for both sides.
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