LaborStart Conference 2023
On April 28-30, 2023, more than 200 participants from 30 countries gathered in Tbilisi for the LaborStart Global Solidarity Conference hosted by the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC). The theme of this year’s conference is “Trade Union Internationalism Today”.
17 thematic workshops and three main plenaries with 25 speakers covered the current global and countrywide challenges of the trade union movement, problems related to the closing of civic spaces, and strategies for their overcoming.
The Ukrainian delegation was represented by Inna Kudinska, a lawyer affiliated with the Solidarity Center and Labor Initiatives NGO, Olesia Briazgunova, International Director & Youth Coordinator from the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU), and Ivanna Khrapko, Head of the Youth Committee of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU).
Representatives of Ukraine were privileged to speak during the welcoming notes and closing remarks of the conference. Also, they had an opportunity to present union-community humanitarian work amid the war and identify the strong and weak points of international solidarity efforts with the union movement in Ukraine and national and international allies.
During the thematic workshop “Ukraine: International Labour Solidarity: What Works?” moderated by Tristan Masat, SC Country Program Director for Ukraine, speakers from Ukraine demonstrated video and gave an overview of KVPU and FPU relief efforts, especially carried out by young unionists amid the war. As speakers noted, mutual aid and humanitarian work are vital as they gave a sense of solidarity and mobilize people towards politics from a place of compassion.
In addition, Inna Kudinska highlighted union-community interaction resulted in the Trade Union Lifeline initiative – a humanitarian network combining the administrative offices of trade unions, the work and infrastructure of NGO partners like the SC and LI, and workers in key sectors and has become an effective way to move resources to where they’re needed the most, particularly in conflict impacted areas.
