The Confederation of Labour of Russia (KTR) and its member organizations have watched the recent events in Kazakhstan with great pain and anxiety. The KTR has for many years been involved in the campaign to build an independent trade union movement in Kazakhstan and to promote and enforce labour and trade union laws that would benefit Kazakhstani workers.

A roundtable organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Confederation of Labour of Russia, Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia and the Center for Social and Labour Rights to discuss Russia’s prospects to ratify and promote ILO Convention No. 190 was held online on June 25.

The international trade union movement has start a global campaign in support of trade unions of Kyrgyzstan fighting against the new Law “On Trade Unions.” The campaign was launched by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Union of Food Workers (IUF), the IndustriALL Global Union and the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) on the LabourStart platform.

Argentina is one step closer to becoming the third country in the world after Uruguay and Fiji to adopt ILO Convention 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work, after the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill for ratification.

We are publishing an article by Frank Hoffer, an associate fellow of the Global Labour University, in which he reasons on the potential and possible actions of the organised labour movement in present-day events in Belarus.

The Ministry of foreign affairs and the Ministry of transport of the Russian Federation at the initiative of the Seafarers Union of Russia are preparing a joint Declaration on facilitating change of ship’s crews. This was announced by Deputy Minister of transport of the Russian Federation Yuri Tsvetkov during the round table «Systemic problems of sea and river transport through the prism of COVID-19».

The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) is extremely shocked to learn of the final verdict passed by the Russian court where three Air Traffic Controllers were sentenced to 5, 5 and half and 6 years imprisonment (penal colony). Such prosecution and sentencing do nothing to improve aviation safety, well to the contrary, and the consequences of such brutal and unjust treatment cannot yet be assessed.

For almost 8 months, the Agdash  (flag of Malta) remained in the Egyptian port of El Adabiya. The shipowner, the well – known Palmali, stopped paying the crew, consisted of five Russians and nine Azerbaijanis, almost immediately after the beginning of the contracts. As a result, salary debts exceeded 400 000 dollars.

The Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, Guy Ryder, has called on the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to prevent human rights violations and “ensure full respect for workers’ rights and freedoms" during the wave of protests that have swept the country in recent weeks.