Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia

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The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia ( FNPR ; Russian Федерация Независимых Профсоюзов России Federazija Nesawissimych Profsojusow Rossii ) is a Russian trade union federation . It was founded in 1990 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the successor to the Soviet Union Council WZSPS and, according to its own statements, represents around 24.2 million members (as of 2012). The second trade union federation in Russia, the Confederation of Labor of Russia (KTR), only has around 2.9 million members. The FNPR is also the largest trade union confederation in Europe. The members of the FNPR are 44 industry unions, plus 79 regionally restricted associations. Mikhail Shmakov has been its chairman since 1993; the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia has been organized internationally since 2000 in the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and since 2006 in the International Trade Union Confederation .

Membership structure

The official membership in 2012 was 24.2 million people. Of these, 18.8 million people were registered as employed, 2.1 million as retirees , 3.3 million as students and trainees . Around 59.8 percent of all members were women. Since the beginning of the 1990s , the number of members has been reduced to around a third; at the beginning of the 1990s, around 60 million people were members.

At this time, 190,800 operational and 1,603 territorial organizations were organized in the FNPR.

history

In the years after the dissolution of the USSR, the FNPR basically remained functional, even if it took a few years for concepts to promote membership on a voluntary basis to be developed. In the course of the reforms of the labor law of the Russian government under Boris Yeltsin in 1992, widespread conflicts arose between the FNPR leadership and the members who took a negative attitude towards the privatization of the Russian economy. The actions and campaigns of the FNPR that took up this stance, however, remained largely without a response. The conflicting relationship between the leadership level of the Federation and its members was also evident in the run-up to and during the Russian constitutional crisis in 1993 . The FNPR evolved from its “critical opposition” position to “defenders of the White House.” In the wake of the crisis, the union federation's bank accounts were blocked and telephone lines were shut down. As a consequence, Mikhail Shmakov was elected as a board member, which is still in office today.

Since the period between 1991 and 1993, the FNPR has developed an aversion to its own trade union activities, which regularly leads to conflicts with activist groups.

In the 2005 and 1999 elections, the FNPR favored the final opposition. Under Vladimir Putin , there were some open conflicts on the political agenda.

Position in the political system

Trade unions in Russia no longer have the right of initiative for legislative proposals, so they are dependent on cooperation with political parties represented in parliament . In general, the 1990s are viewed as sterile in terms of cooperation between parties and trade unions. Accordingly, in the constitution that came into force in 1993, trade unions were granted special parliamentary rights; there were, for example, mandates reserved for trade union representatives. In the recent past, the FNPR has dealt constructively with the United Russia party , for example an agreement on cooperation and communication was signed in 2008. This agreement set goals in social policy .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pyotr Bisjukow, Oksana Grischko: Unions in Russia , March 2012. Friedrich Ebert Foundation website. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  2. ^ Sarah Ashwin, Simon Clarke: Russian Trade Unions and Industrial Relations in Transition , Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave, 2002. Retrieved April 6, 2018.