National report of the Russian Federation to the 14th BRICS Trade Union Forum 23 April, 2025 − Brasilia, Brazil
Dear colleagues, friends, brothers and sisters,
First of all, allow me to thank the trade unions of Brazil, for hosting the 14th ordinary BRICS Trade Union Forum, which is being held in an extended format. Our Forum continues to grow. Following last year's accession of the largest workers' organisations of Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran at the 13th meeting in Sochi, the Forum is now joined by the trade union centres of Indonesia.
We are glad to meet all our colleagues from BRICS member- and partner countries, and, of course, with the guests of the Forum. We do hope our communication over the coming days will be fruitful and constructive.
Turning to the national report on behalf of the Russian trade union movement, I'd like to emphasize that the overall economic situation in our country is demonstrating growth and is, on the whole, marked by positive trends. We try to inform you about it in more detail through our monthly newsletters.
Russia's GDP during 2024 grew by 4.1%. Meanwhile, manufacturing industry grew by 8.5%, indicating significant progress in the Russian economy in terms of import substitution. In other words, the economy has become more technology-intensive and diversified, which favourably affects macroeconomic stability. It should be noted that the inflation rate, although still quite high, is not out of control. In 2024, the inflation was 9.5%, which is slightly higher than in 2023 (7.4%), but lower than in 2022 (11.9%).
This data confirms what we have repeatedly said before, that Russia has coped with an unprecedented pressure of illegal sanctions imposed by various countries, mostly European,, the U.S. and some others.
From the workers' perspective, it is particularly important that 2024 saw a notable increase in real wages: 8.7% on national average. Notably, the above data reflects the increase in real wages, minus inflation. Current situation on the labour market is a peculiar one: consistently low level of unemployment throughout 2024 did not exceed 2.5%; at the beginning of 2025 it fell to 2.3%, but rose to 2.4% in April.
In these conditions, some industries are facing serious labour shortages. Government, employers and trade unions actively discuss this issue, but to no avail so far. Some ministries propose to address the problem by doubling the maximum permitted duration of overtime work to 240 hours per year. The FNPR affiliated unions oppose this government initiative arguing that increasing permissible overtime creates unacceptable occupational safety risks.
It should also be noted that government and union positions on minimum wage have become much closer in recent years. As early as 2020, the Constitution of the Russian Federation was amended to guarantee that minimum wage would not be lower than the minimum subsistence level. Since then, the government has regularly raised the minimum wage through consultations with trade unions. Another increase by 16.6% took place in January, 2025.
However, from the union perspective, the official statistical agencies incorrectly calculate the subsistence minimum. As a result, the Federal minimum wage is still not a sufficiently effective tool to combat poverty. We will actively seek a more reasoned approach to determining its size at all levels.
The social and political situation in the country remains quite stable. This has been confirmed not only by sociological polls, which record consistently high, around 80% approval rate of President Putin's performance, but also by the dynamics of social and labour conflicts in Russia. Most of the 169 conflicts recorded during the past year were local in nature, their causes usually specific to particular industries and regions, that is, they did not reflect the trends common to the economy. All the conflicts, including the 16 strikes that took place last year, were related to wage arrears, low pay or poor working conditions.
In general, the system of social dialogue and partnership helps us to cope with the strongest external pressure. Institutions and structures for social dialogue operate at all levels; the federal government and employers regularly consult with trade unions that are able to consistently defend workers' rights and interests, and this approach is also applied at the regional level. I would like to emphasize that thanks to the efforts of the trade unions, support for social partnership has been a constitutional obligation in Russia since 2022.
In general, it can be noted that the system of social dialogue and social partnership helps us to cope with intense external pressure. Institutions of social dialogue work at all levels. The federal government and employers regularly consult with trade unions that are able to consistently defend workers' rights and interests, and this approach is also applied at the regional level. And it is through the efforts of trade unions that the support for social partnership in Russia has been enshrined at constitutional level since 2022.
Colleagues, this year marks several commemorative historical events important to Russian trade unions and Russian people as a whole. In connection with the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, 2025 has been declared the Year of the Fatherland Defenders. Wishing to highlight the role of our country’s workers in this unprecedented Victory, the FNPR has declared 2025 the Year of Labour Valour, and to that end carries out an active information campaign. The two other important commemorative dates this year are the 120th anniversary of the trade union movement in Russia and the 35th anniversary of the FNPR, which is also reflected in our actions.
The Special Military Operation remains the key foreign policy factor that affects the lives of our people, and hence millions of organised workers. We seek to ensure the security of our borders put at risk by NATO’s eastward expansion, to protect Russian-speaking population and citizens of our country from oppression, violence and destruction on the territory of Ukraine.
Of course, trade unions welcome all peace initiatives and hope for an early and fair settlement of the armed conflict. However, we share the position of the Russian President that lasting peace would be possible only when the root causes of the conflict are eliminated, and these are the extreme Ukrainian nationalism which has grown into Nazism, russophobia, total disregard for democratic principles and procedures, widespread and massive violation of human rights.
Ultimately, lasting peace is impossible without the establishment of a just world order based on multipolarity, equality and mutual respect. These are exactly the principles that are guiding BRICS, and we, as BRICS Trade Union Forum, ensure a social dimension of interstate cooperation within this association.
We strongly support the draft Declaration prepared by our Brazilian colleagues. In our view, its key message is a very important one: «Technological transformations cannot override workers' rights».
We live in an era of sweeping change, when the world of work is transformed by digitalisation and, more recently, by the introduction of artificial intelligence. At the same time, we are witnessing a widespread development of environmentally friendly sources of energy and a shift towards low-carbon economy. But, dear colleagues, as the Book of Ecclesiastes (1:9) says, «...there is nothing new under the sun».
As in the past technological revolutions, now the elements of artificial intelligence are used by entrepreneurs not so much as to deal with the solution of monotonous, labour-intensive, complex tasks in hazardous working conditions, but to displace jobs that are easiest to automate in order to reduce costs.
Information technologies are aimed at extracting huge profits from the sphere of consumption and entertainment, leaving behind the solution of complex problems that facilitate hard mass labour. What's more, new algorithms are being actively implemented in all kinds of weapons aimed at mass destruction; in cyber-warfare; in fraudulent schemes to scam people; in various types of criminal business.
In a world that has never solved the problem of poverty, especially in the countries of global majority; in a world that has not ensured the transition from informal to formal employment, technological transformations mentioned above only increase the old threats to workers and create new ones, thus contributing to fantastic enrichment of a bunch of digital oligarchs actively merging with power structures.
In a situation like this, it is particularly important that trade unions of the world, especially those in BRICS countries, consistently demand that their governments implement policies that would promote economic development, including industrialisation and re-industrialisation, as well as the creation of new jobs meeting decent work standards. Moreover, workers who become unemployed as a result of technological transformations should be able to undergo retraining and find a new work within short time.
The implementation of these, in fact, minimum demands of the international trade union movement is not possible without the establishment of more representative and inclusive decision-making systems both at the national and interstate levels. And in order for the unions, including those represented here at Forum, to be able to participate effectively in these decision-making systems, it is necessary to work on the development and institutional strengthening of our own structures.
This discussion has been going on for a long time, and we hope that here in Brasilia, during the 14th BRICS Trade Union Forum, we shall be able to continue it most constructively, proceeding from concrete proposals under the Resolution No. 2024.1 adopted for the first time during the previous Forum in Sochi. We have spent considerable effort to work out a set of documents to implement these areas of work, and sent all drafts proposals to national coordinators of the Forum beforehand.
The following draft documents have been prepared:
- procedure for holding the meetings of the Trade Union Forum representatives at all venues, including international ones;
- Concept of BRICS Trade Union Forum Secretariat;
- Statement of BRICS Trade Union Forum on the illegal economic sanctions;
- regulation on the observers of BRICS Trade Union Forum.
We very much hope that during the current 14th BRICS Trade Union Forum we will consider these drafts, thus ensuring the succession and systemic nature of our work.
In conclusion, let me once again thank our hosts, the national trade union centres of Brazil, for their hospitality and the opportunity to get together to continue discussing the issues that are important not only for the BRICS unions, but also for the entire international trade union movement.
Thank you for your attention!