Vasco Pedrina Vice-President of BWI (Building and Wood Workers’ International) and representative of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation on the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) Consultative Committee.

The Russian Federation’s ongoing war crimes against the people of Ukraine have reached a new level of escalation. Transgressions include the deliberate bombing of hospitals, factories, supermarkets, and post offices, and the killing of over eleven thousand civilians. Ukrainian workers are under attack, as the regime-loyal “trade union” FNPR (Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia) has persecuted Ukrainian trade unions in the occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea, while the Russian government has bombed union headquarters.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) must address Russia’s blatant disregard for fundamental workers’ rights and human dignity. As the worldwide authority on labour standards, the ILO has both the duty and the capability to confront these breaches of its conventions. It’s crucial that these abuses be brought before the ILO, and that the organization take action to hold Russia accountable for its war crimes.

Ongoing inhumanity

Russia’s criminal attacks on Ukraine’s health care system should be understood as targeting not only vital infrastructure but also workplaces and workers. In October 2024, Physicians for Human Rights recorded 1,442 attacks on health facilities, of which 742 hospitals and clinics were destroyed, killing 210 health workers in the process. That may be an underestimate since, in August, Human Rights Watch reported that Russia had damaged or destroyed 1,736 medical facilities. The WHO repeatedly condemned as a war crime Russia’s systematic tactic of destroying healthcare facilities and targeting healthcare workers.

Healthcare workers are far from alone in bearing the weight of Russia’s aggression. Most blatant are the cases where Russian occupation forces not only torture, kill, and deport Ukrainian civilians, but have also instituted a system of forced labour in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, especially in the Atomic Energy Industry. The phenomenon of forced labour in Russian-occupied nuclear power plants is supported by numerous pieces of evidence.

Additionally, the persecution and expropriation of Ukrainian trade unions, co-organised by the FNPR in the temporarily Russian-occupied territories, is a grave attack on Ukrainian workers’ fundamental rights. They have banned the activities of Ukrainian free trade unions and savagely persecute anyone who attempts to maintain contact with their union.

What is particularly egregious is that the FNPR willingly serves as the executioner and accomplice of the Putin regime in its efforts to suppress the freedom of association. The FNPR plays a central role in the persecution of Ukrainian workers in the occupied territories by the Russian regime and is actively involved in — and benefits from — the illegal expropriation of Ukrainian trade unions.

The FNPR is an integral part of the repressive, criminal, and inhumane machinery of the Putin dictatorship and, by extension, its war crimes. Putin publicly praised the FNPR at its 2024 Congress for implementing the “New Russia” system in the workplaces of occupied Ukraine. The FNPR is the only permitted trade union in the territories, and those who do not join and accept the process of “Russification” are viewed with suspicion by the Russian occupying forces. This suspicion can lead to abduction or imprisonment in a torture facility, as many UN reports have shown.

The barbaric Russian attack on the Swiss Foundation for De-Mining (FSD) in Kharkiv in July 2024 marks another — alas, surely not the last — severe violation of international law by Russia, and underscores the urgency of this matter. Such blatant disregard for human rights and international norms demands constant and decisive action.

It is imperative that these cases be brought before the ILO, and that the ILO hold Russia accountable for its flagrant violations of ILO conventions designed to protect the most basic workers’ rights and human dignity. The ILO system, as the global authority on labour standards, has the responsibility and function to address these violations and take a stand against the Russian Federation’s actions.

Expel the FNPR and cease collaboration

It is crucial to address the role of the FNPR in this conflict. The FNPR, acting as a puppet of the Russian government, has supported the persecution of Ukrainian trade unions in occupied territories. Given this complicity, the FNPR does not represent the interests of workers in Russia or anywhere else.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) must, therefore, cease any direct or implicit support for the FNPR. Continued recognition or collaboration with such an organization would only legitimise its actions and undermine the global labour movement’s credibility. This explicitly means that the ITUC should prevent the FNPR from securing a seat on the ILO Governing Body in the next elections.

Unfortunately, this year the ITUC enabled (or at least did not try to stop) the election of FNPR representative Alexei Zharkov by leaving a space vacant for him. Despite all this misguided friendliness from the ITUC and the aggressive lobbying by the FNPR and their allies in the Chinese ACFTU, Zharkov was barely elected. This outcome is a stinging rebuke to the FNPR. Had the ITUC opposed Zharkov, he would not have been elected.

Moreover, the role of Russian representatives to the ILO in Putin’s war machine should be investigated and those involved or supportive of war crimes should be sanctioned and denied visas. It is incomprehensible that Mikhail Shmakov, who shamelessly acts as an accomplice to Putin, is not yet on any sanctions list, to our knowledge — especially in contrast to representatives of the Russian employers’ association who have been sanctioned.

Finally, at the next competent statutory meeting, the ITUC — the global democratic trade union movement — must make a decisive choice and expel the FNPR from its ranks. The fact that this warmongering organization is only suspended already undermines the credibility of the ITUC.

Close the ILO’s Moscow office

In Putin’s Russia, freedom of speech and thought has been stifled, and working freely is no longer possible. This extends even to diplomatic staff, including those from the ILO, who are regularly harassed, as is often whispered behind closed doors. Reports of intimidation against non-Russian personnel have also surfaced multiple times.

Workers from many countries no longer feel safe travelling to Moscow, and many, particularly those from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus — regions that have suffered from Russian aggression — are unwilling to work in Moscow. Many trade unions from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia refuse to be “managed” from Moscow. Given the situations in Georgia, Armenia and Central Asian countries, this stance is entirely understandable.

It is particularly untenable that Belarus, where Putin ally Lukashenko has banned all democratic trade unions and imprisoned over 40 trade unionists, is formally covered by an ILO office based in Moscow. 

Therefore, the ILO office should be relocated without any further delay.

Democratic trade unions must oppose Putinism

We demand genuine trade union solidarity with our fellow trade unionists and workers in Ukraine, who are currently facing invasion and the attempted destruction of their nation. We expect every democratic trade union movement, including and especially those in countries belonging to the EU, G7, G20, and BRICS, to stand against the war criminal fascism embodied by Putinism.

There can be no justification for trade unions collaborating with such a regime and its subservient trade unions, particularly within frameworks like the G20 and other groups of which Russia is a member. If the G20, BRICS, and so on do not distance themselves from these actions and members, they risk becoming “clubs” protecting, legitimizing, and ultimately enabling dictators and war criminals.

Action points against Putin’s regime

In conclusion, the whole international trade union community must speak clearly and loudly in the face of these atrocities. Bringing this case before the ILO is not only a necessary step in holding Russia accountable but also a critical measure to protect the integrity of international labour standards. The ILO and ITUC must stand united in their commitment to justice, human rights, and the protection of workers worldwide.

Therefore, every democratic trade union movement should demand:

  • That the ILO, using all legal means available, immediately take every step necessary to pursue, name, and punish all violations of workers’ and trade union rights committed by Russia in Ukraine. The ITUC and international union organizations must take all necessary legal and practical measures to that end at the next ILO gathering.
  • That the ITUC and all its regional bodies completely distance themselves from the FNPR as an accomplice of the Putin regime — not only in Europe but also in Asia, Australia, and North, Central, and South America. We demand real trade union solidarity against Putin’s reckless and aggressive dictatorial regime and its proxies in the FNPR. ITUC must finally expel FNPR from its membership.
  • The immediate relocation of the ILO office from Moscow, as its continued operation would contradict the values and mission of the ILO in promoting workers’ rights and justice, given the Russian Federation’s ongoing violations of international law.
  • As proud and strong democratic trade unions, the Brazilian CUT and the South African COSATU should consider not giving legitimacy and credibility to the FNPR and the ACFTU by engaging in the BRICS Trade Union Forum.

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