GCTU 4th CONGRESS HELD IN MOSCOW

The 4th Congress of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) took place in Moscow 12 September 2002.

The GCTU currently affiliates national trade union centres in 10 CIS countries and 37 industrial Trade Union Internationals, all in all 47 organisations with a total membership of about 75 million people.

Based on the established quotas and on the GCTU Constitution, 153 delegates were elected to the Congress who represented trade unions of both the Commonwealth countries and the economic sectors. The delegates came from all levels of the trade union structure, from the chairpersons of workplace committees and up to the leaders of national trade union centres.

Attending the Congress were also delegates of friendly organisations, such as the World Federation of Trade Unions, the World Confederation of Labour, the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, the Azerbaijan Trade Union Confederation, and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and also the International Labour Organisation. General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation Emilio Gabaglio, and the Central Committee of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour sent their messages of solidarity.

The guests of honour included Speaker of the Russian State Duma and Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Guennady Seleznev, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States Youry Yarov, General Secretary of the Eurasian Economic Community Grigory Rapota, President of the International Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Viktor Glukhikh, First Deputy Mayor of Moscow Ludmilla Shvetsova and other personalities.

The Congress listened to messages from President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev, President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmonov, Speaker of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Serguey Mironov, General Secretary of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Mikhail Krotov, Moscow's Mayor Youry Luzhkov, and Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Eurasian Economic Community and Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the Belarus National Assembly Alexander Voytovitch.

The Congress agenda included the following items.

Report on the GCTU's activity in the period since its 3rd Congress and on the guidelines for GCTU activity in 2002-2007.
Report by the GCTU Auditing Commission.
Election of GCTU President and Vice-Presidents.
On the Constitution of the GCTU.
On the Regulations of the GCTU Auditing Commission.
Formation of the GCTU Executive Committee.
Election of the GCTU Auditing Commission.
Adoption of the statements, appeals and resolutions by the GCTU 4th Congress.

As he was reporting to the Congress, GCTU President Vladimir Scherbakov stressed that the Confederation's contribution to the building of a new system of social and labour relations and the development of civilised social partnership had been particularly notable over the previous few years. He called on the Commonwealth trade unions to rally around such goals as securing better living standards, establishing a common social space in the CIS, and developing and strengthening the trade union movement in the region. He said he believed that affiliation with the GCTU enabled the CIS trade unions to cope effectively with the most serious challenges of the new times.

"We have all we need for the purpose: the time-tested solidarity, the knowledge we have gained in the arduous transitional period of our history, the brisk and bold leaders of our member organisations who keep abreast with time, and the priceless experience of trade union work", concluded Vladimir Scherbakov.

The leaders of all the affiliated national trade union centres and some industrial Trade Union Internationals took the floor in the debate about Item 1 of the agenda.

The activity of the GCTU Executive Committee in the period under review and the Report of the GCTU Auditing Commission were approved by a majority of congress delegates.

The Congress elected the GCTU governing bodies.

Vladimir Scherbakov was elected GCTU President.

Alexander Jinjolia, Yevgeny Lebedev, Natalia Podshibyakina, Albert Potapov, Valery Youriev and Ermek Zhakselekov were elected Vice-Presidents.

The Congress formed an Executive Committee of 25 members. The Committee is composed of the GCTU President and Vice-Presidents, the leaders and representatives of the nine national trade union centres and the leaders of nine industrial Trade Union Internationals.

The first session of the newly elected Auditing Commission elected Vladimir Kanyshev its chairman.

The Congress decided against amending the GCTU Constitution or the Regulations of the GCTU Auditing Commission.

The Congress approved and adopted the final documents that had been drafted and submitted by the working groups composed of representatives of affiliated organisations.

The principal document for the GCTU in the period ahead is the Guidelines for GCTU Activity in 2002-2007 (the English translation is available).