|
MAY DAY-2004 MESSAGE BY GCTU
Trade unions in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States will observe the Day of International Workers’ Solidarity on 1 May 2004 by consolidating their ranks and organising actions in defence of working people’s rights and interests. The unions note that the ongoing political and economic processes in the CIS countries have not led to any substantial positive changes in workers’ lives. The work remuneration rates of most employees remain low, the unemployment is high, while the social guarantees have grown feebler. The General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU) believes that, as the economy of the Commonwealth grows stronger, the responsibility of the states and employers for pursuing a strong social police must also increase. The GCTU calls on its affiliates to pay priority attention to the struggles for social justice, full and efficient employment, decent working conditions, protection of trade union rights and freedoms, and building a single social space in the CIS. Convinced that the success of the social struggles being waged by trade unions in different parts of the world is increasingly dependent on how they coordinate their actions, the GCTU works for continued dialogue and cooperation in the world trade union movement, and for solidarity in the efforts to rebuff the attacks by transnational corporations upon workers’ rights. The GCTU and its affiliated organisations are positive that, acting in solidarity, they will be able to protect efficiently the vital interests of waged workers in the countries of the CIS. |
