Trade Unions Against Sanctions

On September 13-14, Minsk, Republic of Belarus (RB), hosted an international conference “The Impact of Global Economic Challenges on Social and Labor Rights”, where Alexander Korchagin, President of the International Confederation of the ROGWU Trade Unions, Chairman of the ROGWU, took part.

The central topic of the conference was the issue of the application of economic sanctions, that not only infringe on the right of people to work, but also affect other fundamental rights – to life and to healthcare. The conference brought together an authoritative expert community – experts in the field of international law, representatives of UN organizations and structures, judicial authorities, ambassadors of foreign countries and public figures.

In his speech, Alexander Korchagin noted that the most important and extremely negative consequence of the application of sanctions is that ordinary people – workers – primarily suffer from economic interference. As a result, people are often left not only without wages, nor even with no job.

“We hope and moreover are confident that the futility of the sanctions pressed by some countries on other countries in the nearest future will be recognized by the world community as a harmful and, if you like, an unprofitable instrument of limiting the economic development and prosperity of all countries all over the world. This means that there are restrictions on social and labor rights and interests of workers, which we, the trade unions, protect. At the same time, an important condition is our unity and solidarity among all the trade unions, for the further development of which I would like to call on all of us”, – the Chairman of the Trade Union noted.

As a result of the conference, there was adopted a resolution, which emphasizes that unilateral sanctions affect the socio-economic stability of states, does not allow ensuring decent living conditions for societies, damages the well-being of the population, and undermines the situation on the markets. In addition, sanctions lead to deterioration in the living conditions in all spheres of social life of vulnerable categories of the population, including women, elderly persons, ones with disabilities and children. Also, the resolution addressed the EU, ILO and UN noted that the imposition of sanctions in accordance with the UN Charter is the sole prerogative of the UN Security Council. Violation of this principle undermines confidence in the international institutions and destabilizes the world order.