Putin Addresses Congress of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia & 2024 National Health Congress Plenary Session, Plus Conducts Strategic Drill

A very busy day for President Putin began with an exercise of Russia’s strategic forces that featured the firing of several of its ballistic missiles and likely included anti-missile training. There was no indication the drill was associated with the Zionist attack on Iran or the crazed NATO gaslighting about North Koran troops. The next event was Putin’s address to the XIII Congress of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, an event you’ll never see occur in Neoliberal nations where labor is loathed. As you read Putin’s words, keep in mind that the Capitalist West has generally waged war on labor both as people and as political power structures, and has never attempted to form the sort of alliance that’s present in Russia, China and elsewhere i growing numbers. The last event was Putin’s speech to Russia’s third National Health Congress, an event that was born as a response to the Covid Crisis. IMO, all three events measure how far Russia’s advanced since its nadir in 1996-8 when it appeared its society was doomed. Russia’s military was just recognized as the best in the world by the western publication US News and World Report, an amazing admission from such a well-known propaganda outlet. Now Putin and Trade Unions:

Vladimir Putin: Dear colleagues and friends,

Thank you very much for inviting me to the thirteenth Congress of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia. Your association has been at the forefront of the national trade union movement for more than thirty years, covering more than 130,000 primary organizations and almost 20 million people across the country.

Such a broad and truly universal representation allows the federation to effectively protect the professional interests of our citizens, improve legislation in social partnership with the state and business, and build up employment relations on a modern basis.

This year, the Russian Trilateral Commission has done a lot of meaningful work: another General Agreement was signed between trade unions, employers and the Government. It is designed for a three-year period - from 2024 to 2026.

I am confident that cooperation under the new agreement will be as fruitful as in previous years. Moreover, among the priorities of this document are tasks that are of long-term, strategic importance for the whole of Russia, such as ensuring the security of our country, strengthening its production, technological and human resources potential, improving the well-being of citizens and, of course, stimulating qualitative changes in the labor market.

The state policy of recent years, the efforts of the business community, and trade unions have contributed to the fact that the unemployment rate in Russia is falling lower and lower, updating its historical minimum every quarter. So, in August of this year, for the third consecutive month, unemployment was 2.4 percent, and this figure is minimal in comparison with other leading countries of the world.

Another very important trend is being recorded in our labor market. It shows that the Russian economy is changing structurally. For years, we have been talking about changing the structure of the economy. It's changing now. And in the direction of complication, the development of industries with high added value and skilled jobs. So, in August of this year, compared with last year's values, employment in the manufacturing industry and the IT sector increased by 3.9 and 8 percent, respectively. That is, in the IT sector by 8 percent.

I would like to add that unemployment is decreasing in one of the most difficult groups of citizens. I am referring to young people under the age of 25, who mostly have no work experience yet and are looking for employment. So, the youth unemployment rate in June was less than nine percent – 8.8 percent. For comparison, a year earlier, this figure was significantly higher – 11.6 percent, and in 2019 it was 15.5 percent at all.

I know that these figures are well-known in this audience. The Federation of Independent Trade Unions, of course, closely monitors and analyzes the state of affairs in the labor market, including the dynamics of wages, and they are growing in the whole country, and at a rate that exceeds inflation. In July of this year, real wages-that is, net of inflation-were 8.1 percent higher than last year.

I would like to emphasize that it is important that the position of employees in the labor market continues to improve. I mean the working conditions of specialists, their working conditions and, of course, the increase in their income. They should be in our field of vision all the time, they should grow at a faster pace – higher than the price increase.

I repeat: the Russian economy should become an economy of high wages, and this is the key to improving the efficiency of production, modernizing enterprises and companies, deeply updating industries on a modern technological basis, and creating high-quality jobs. (Applause.) I am sure that the trade unions share this view. And that's what your applause is all about. Thank you very much.

What I have just said fully applies to both the corporate sector and the public sector. In this regard, I would like to remind the Government that the introduction of a new model of remuneration for state employees, including healthcare workers (I just spoke to them here, side by side, and talked about this), education, science, and culture should begin next year.

First, we will work it out in the framework of pilot projects in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and then-the Government faces a difficult and financially intensive task, it is necessary for everyone to understand this, it is a very difficult task, but the Government has such a task-from 2027 to transfer the remuneration of all public sector employees to the so-called industry systems. Their goal is not only to increase the income of specialists. But it is fundamentally important to eliminate the gap in their salaries, which now differ markedly from region to region, even in neighboring regions, which is completely unfair. We understand this problem and will, of course, solve it together with the subjects of the Russian Federation, of course, with your support, dear friends.

Further. I would like to emphasize again what I said at your previous congress, in April of this year. According to experts ' forecasts, in the near future the Russian economy and our labor market will experience high demand and even a shortage of personnel. These objective trends must be taken into account, and further systematic steps should be taken accordingly for the long-term development of the economy and social sphere. This applies equally to the state, to business, and, of course, to the activities of trade unions. The country's human resources potential is an absolute value, which should be treated responsibly, protected, strengthened, and invested in this area.

Our country has ambitious goals, namely, to dramatically increase the volume of production of goods and the quality of services in the widest range, in all industries and sectors, in each subject of the Federation.

Obviously, to achieve this, it is necessary first of all to increase labor productivity, automate, equip the domestic manufacturing industry, agriculture, services and so on with new equipment and technologies, and develop, of course, infrastructure and logistics. To do this, we have mechanisms for supporting businesses and developing territories. We will constantly adjust them, increase their efficiency and demand by companies, enterprises, and constituent entities of the Russian Federation. I also look forward to the active assistance of trade unions that are interested in expanding Russia's technological and industrial potential, creating jobs with better working conditions and higher wages.

And of course, the most important task, as I have already said, is to train qualified personnel who will work in new, modern production facilities. Modernization of the system of secondary and higher professional education, strengthening its ties with employers are among the priorities of new national projects. They will start next year.

I would like to emphasize that the May decree on national development goals of this year set a substantive task, namely, to create by 2030 institutional conditions for the continuous professional development of working citizens, so that they can get new professions and improve their skills on a systematic basis, throughout their entire work activity.

Within the framework of the national project "Personnel", training and additional education in those professions that are already in demand on the labor market are planned. First of all, these programs can be used by the unemployed, as well as women with children under seven years of age and citizens of pre-retirement age. It is planned that over one hundred thousand people will study under such programs annually.

It is fundamentally important to guarantee youth employment, so that today's schoolchildren and students can get a high-quality education, acquire an interesting profession, and then get a reliable job in their specialty.

Let me remind you that the target figures for admission to technical schools, colleges, and universities will be based on a forecast of the personnel needs of the economy, that is, how many specialists in specific industries, and in what time frame domestic enterprises and companies will need. This forecast is prepared by the Government in contact with business and regional teams. It takes into account business and investment activity in the country as a whole, and in individual regions of the Russian Federation in particular. And of course, this document will be constantly updated.

I would like to note that our economy today is acutely lacking in specialists of working professions. To increase the prestige and popularity of these areas, we will continue to establish partnerships between colleges and technical schools with employers. I hope that the trade unions will also take an active part in this process.

Let me remind you that within the framework of the federal project "Professionalitet", about a million workers will be trained for the domestic light industry, pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding, the aircraft industry, the production of machine tools and electronic components, and so on. The basis for training specialists will be updated educational and production centers, which are created together with business with the support of the state.

As I have already said, such cooperation between educational organizations and business circles will cover the entire secondary education system in the future, including training personnel for schools, hospitals, clinics, services, tourism, and so on. We will also additionally support the higher education system – institutes and universities that closely cooperate with companies in the real sector and the social sphere, and jointly launch innovative, technological, and personnel projects. The Priority 2030 program will be extended for them.

It is planned to create at least 25 new, modern and high-quality university campuses across the country by 2030 as part of the national project "Youth and Children". Almost half a million students will study, practice, play sports and relax in them, and in the future it is planned that the number of such campuses in the country will increase to forty. As part of the same national project, eight hundred university dormitories will be completely renovated by the end of 2030. More than two hundred thousand children will receive more comfortable living conditions during their studies.

By the way, many of today's students are members of trade unions. The student movement of the Trade Union of Education covers more than a million people and this year marks its 25th anniversary. Of course, the contribution of this association to the development of youth policy, to the promotion of the cause of protecting workers ' rights, as well as the initiatives of its members, true leaders in spirit, deserve respect and support. I would like to congratulate this movement on its 25th anniversary.

And more. Special emphasis in the framework of national projects will be placed on the development of scientific and educational potential to achieve technological leadership in Russia, so that we, in our country, have a wide space for technical thought, for creating and implementing new promising solutions.

To do this, we will significantly increase the training of engineering personnel. On the horizon until 2030, in addition to the existing engineering schools, we will create at least fifty more such advanced structures with the most modern educational and laboratory equipment. I would like to emphasize that the material equipment and level of training in advanced engineering schools should meet not only the standards of today, but also the needs of the economy of the future. If we focus only on the present day, even on the best, most advanced achievements, we will already fall behind. We must always look to the future. First of all, it concerns the qualification of new specialists, their knowledge and professional skills.

Dear colleagues and friends,

Russia and the whole world are going through a period of dynamic, intense changes. They place new and higher demands on the pace and quality of development of the economy, social sectors, regions, cities and towns, and all spheres of life.

A strong, sovereign future for Russia is being created by people. Just like that. Those who work hard every day in workshops and assembly lines, in fields and mines, in design bureaus and research centers, in classrooms and medical offices. Protecting the interests of citizens and working people, improving the prosperity and well-being of their families is a key strategic task. Nothing is more important. The state solves this problem together with business, with those who create jobs, and, of course, together with trade unions that monitor the interests of working people, in a close, not always simple, but nevertheless very important and, in recent years, we can say, effective dialogue.

Historically, the trade union movement in Russia is strong, widespread, has great weight and authority in society. I am sure that it will continue to develop and improve its activities.

During the current congress, I have just been informed that you have adopted amendments to the Charter of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions, as well as a number of personnel decisions.

Mikhail Viktorovich Shmakov, who headed the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia for more than 30 years, is a true veteran of the trade union movement and, of course, has done a lot for its development. As far as I understand, Mikhail Viktorovich is moving to the honorary position of president of the FNPR. I am absolutely sure that your experience and knowledge will be in demand, including in the framework of international trade union cooperation, interaction through civil societies, primarily in such a format as the BRICS Trade Union Forum, which is aimed at protecting the rights of citizens in the labor markets of our association.

And of course, I congratulate you on the election of Sergey Ivanovich Chernogaev. You have spent many years working for one of the largest trade unions in the industry – railway workers and transport builders. Now, as the chairman of the FNPR, you will have to manage the entire team, the entire complex of current activities of the federation, implement projects of the trade union movement that are in demand over time, and implement initiatives that will ensure that the FNPR reaches a qualitatively new level of development.

I would like to wish you and all the members of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions success in your work for the benefit of citizens and for the benefit of Russia.

Thanks for attention. [My Emphasis]

If youth unemployment is as high as it is, there must be many segments where there’s no unemployment at all to bring the overall percentage to 2.4%. Russia’s attempt to eliminate poverty ought to show similar success. Clearly, Russia’s Trilateral Commission isn’t an analogue of the Outlaw US Empire’s that strives to destroy organized labor. I again want to point out this primary aspect of Russia’s governing philosophy:

Protecting the interests of citizens and working people, improving the prosperity and well-being of their families is a key strategic task. Nothing is more important.

Compare those words to those of your national leaders, and if they echo them, do they walk the talk? Again, what we see is the implementation of People Centered Development—people are the source of all accomplishments, so their modification, modernizing, updating, etc., becomes the state’s primary chore. And the three main sectors of the polity people inhabit—business, government, workforce—must all work together for the nation to enjoy a harmonious existence. Note how that political-economic model competes with Neoliberal Capitalism where only the interests of the polity’s top 10% are addressed and the remainder left to fend for themselves as government and business drop support for vital social programs and hope to make a profit from the educational system instead of doing the sort of people centered promotion explained above. One system’s Humane, the other Inhumane. One is sustainable, the other is dysfunctional. The Big Picture Conflict now ongoing is over which of those two systems is going to prevail.

National Health 2024 Congress

Putin tells us right away about the Congress, its history and impact on Russian healthcare policy. So, here’s Putin:

Vladimir Putin: Dear friends and colleagues,

Let me welcome all of you to the congress, which is being held for the third year in a row and is the flagship platform for a comprehensive discussion of the prospects for national healthcare.

I must say right away that many of the recommendations that are developed at your forum, which has already earned high professional recognition, are taken into account in the activities of federal and regional authorities, are widely implemented in medical institutions, and the exchange of experience with foreign participants of the congress mutually enriches the practice of organizing national health systems.

Russia is constantly working in this direction. So, from 2019 to 2024, about 1.7 trillion rubles were allocated for the implementation of specialized federal projects. Thanks to such strong support, not only current tasks are successfully solved, but also breakthrough results are achieved. Let me remind you that we were the first in the world to register a vaccine against coronavirus. It has helped preserve the health and lives of millions of people in 71 countries.

Our share of domestic medicines and medical equipment is growing, and the technological sovereignty of the industry is being strengthened. We certainly intend to go further along this path and increase the sustainability and independence of the Russian healthcare system. This issue, of course, belongs to the category of national security issues.

Colleagues, you are well aware that Russia will start implementing new national projects in 2025. Among them – "Long and active life" and "New technologies for saving health". Strengthening and developing healthcare is certainly a key part of them and covers almost all its areas: from the primary level to the introduction of advanced technologies and improving the culture of health preservation. These national projects are distinguished by a comprehensive, broad approach to using all the factors and resources that affect national conservation, and this is our number one task. I would like to emphasize that all our national projects are focused on people, on creating conditions for improving the well-being and quality of life of our citizens.

One of the main goals for the coming years is to increase life expectancy. I would like to emphasize the need to reduce the differentiation of indicators in this parameter between regions. It is also well known that the life expectancy of men in our country is still lower than that of women. We need to solve all these problems consistently. Overall, life expectancy should reach an average of 78 years. And in the future, as previously planned, we will have to reach the level of "80 plus".

At the same time, I will highlight the key tasks of the new national projects that I have just mentioned.

First. Life expectancy should grow faster in those regions and groups of the population (I just mentioned this now) where it lags behind the national average. As I have already said, we need to reduce this differentiation.

Second. People in Russia should become much healthier, get sick less and less often, of course. In particular, I want to emphasize this, through a healthy lifestyle, nutrition, timely prevention of diseases and, in general, effective work of preventive medicine.

And, third, an extremely important point – the duration of an active, decent life should grow. When a person, despite his advanced age, has internal opportunities and, most importantly, the desire to continue working, to remain, if circumstances develop in a certain way, a mentor in his profession, to devote his free time to his family, grandchildren, travel, participation in social and public initiatives.

We agreed that the family theme should permeate all our national projects. I ask the Government to pay special attention to this when finalizing them. We will definitely take this aspect into account at the next meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects. And, of course, in the course of implementing projects, it will be necessary to put at the forefront the issues of strengthening the health of our people.

The national project "Family" has many provisions and guidelines that are closely intertwined with the development of the healthcare system. The foundation of a healthy nation is a healthy family in every generation. In recent years, much has been done to protect motherhood and childhood, including the creation of a system of modern perinatal centers, which includes 175 institutions throughout the country. An efficient patient routing system has been built. Today, we record the lowest infant mortality rate in history (four cases per thousand live births). As part of the new national project, more than 360 women's clinics will be created, and perinatal centers will be equipped. I would like to draw the attention of my colleagues from the regions of the Russian Federation, the heads of the regions: of course, we need to pay special attention to this. I've visited those that don't look very good yet, let's just say, and those that are already considered new. We seem to be moving. We need to carefully monitor every movement here. So that the equipment is available, so that it is convenient for paramedics and doctors to work.

Of course, good health is laid in childhood. And then, throughout your life, you need to be engaged in disease prevention, physical education and sports.

These issues have always been in the sphere of attention of the outstanding doctor and scientist Nikolai Alexandrovich Semashko. Today's plenary session of the Congress, as I understand it, is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of its birth.

Academician Semashko actually recreated the national healthcare system and, most importantly, enriched it with new approaches. Moreover, his innovative ideas have become a reference point for the whole world.

We will continue to strengthen and develop our healthcare system and update its infrastructure. Over the next six years, more than a trillion rubles will be allocated for the construction, repair and equipping of medical institutions alone. Special attention will continue to be paid to improving primary care. This is the most popular part of the medical service, as we understand it. The total load on it exceeds one billion visits per year.

Modernization of primary care has already affected every third medical institution in the country. More than 140 thousand units of medical equipment were purchased for FAPs, polyclinics, district and city hospitals. Medical care has become more accessible and comfortable for millions of people. I repeat, work in this area should continue. This is one of the key requests of citizens.

Significant efforts will be made to combat such serious illnesses as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and hepatitis C. The relevant national project has many specific guidelines for the introduction of innovative treatment methods, including those using artificial intelligence technologies. We have a lot of experience in this area.

For example, a promising digital platform is being tested in Moscow, where big data about conducted studies is processed using artificial intelligence, which, of course, helps doctors in making a diagnosis. I was at one of these sites. Still, it is obvious that artificial intelligence, of course, helps a lot. But it only helps. The main thing is for the doctor, for the doctor himself. I won't go into details. But this became obvious during the conversation and inspection of what is being implemented there.

Such an integrated digital platform should be implemented, which will help the citizen to maintain and maintain health throughout life. And of course, we need to do this on a national scale.

In the future, the entire national system of public health management and protection should be built on this principle, based on the analysis of the state of human health using artificial intelligence and all available research.

Support for medical science and technology, including research in the field of longevity, is an absolute priority. For the first time, a new and highly sought – after area will also appear-expanding the infrastructure of nuclear medicine, which opens up prospects for more accurate diagnostics. We already have a lot of research centers that conduct research here. We will actively implement these achievements.

I consider disease prevention to be an extremely important topic. This is a very wide range of tasks that can only be solved with the active participation of citizens themselves. Therefore, it is necessary to persistently and consistently form the desire of our citizens to play sports, take care of their health, and be sure to undergo routine examinations. Of course, we need to encourage people who regularly exercise and are responsible for their health. Therefore, it is also envisaged that starting next year, tax deductions will be established for those who undergo a planned medical examination, as well as successfully pass the TRP standards. But here, too, you need to be very careful-you know what, right? – so that medical examination certificates are not bought for three kopecks and certificates of passing the TRP standards are also not given by acquaintance. We need to debug this system.

The key issue is the remuneration of medical workers. I spoke about this separately in my Address to the Federal Assembly. You know that the salary of health workers is linked to the average salary in the regions. But it is clear that this level is different and often significantly different even in neighboring regions of the Russian Federation. Of course, we have been discussing this with our colleagues in the Government for a long time. Of course, there should not be such a spread in the salaries of doctors, teachers, and other specialists. In 2025, we will work out a new, fairer model of remuneration for state employees in a number of pilot regions of the country, and in early 2027 we plan, and I hope we will be able to do this, to extend such a system to all public sector employees in all regions of the Russian Federation, of course, including healthcare.

Dear colleagues, your congress is certainly a landmark event for our country and for our citizens. Therefore, I sincerely wish you fruitful work and success in your noble and selfless work. And of course, I hope that you, as well as all citizens of the Russian Federation, will take care of your own health.

Be healthy and happy. Thank you. Thank you very much. [My Emphasis]

Another day, something new learned. Nikolai Alexandrovich Semashko was quite a figure. His Wiki bio is quite rich, whereas the Wiki article about the system he helped design reveals the work of those against universal healthcare and healthcare as a human right. As ought to be obvious, Russia is currently involved in revamping and improving its universal healthcare system. In the Gym’s archive are the reports on many meetings related to the state of healthcare in municipalities, regions and Russia as a whole. Those meetings provide the basis for Putin’s remark that improving healthcare access is a key request of citizens, especially beyond the Urals. When referring to nuclear medicine and medical technological sovereignty, Putin is talking about the various types of imaging machines that greatly facilitate diagnoses. And then there’s the issue of homemade pharmacological technologies. One of Russia’s biggest healthcare problems is shortage of specialists, not just doctors. Part of that’s due to the brain drain that occurred during the 1990s and early 2000s. The imbalance Putin refers to is a Soviet legacy of unequal conditions between European Russia and Russia beyond the Urals where most everything was second-rate along with the pay. That fault lies with Soviet leaders beginning with Stalin. Russia’s infant mortality rate of 4/1000 is very good, but the world’s best is 1.5/1000 with several nations at that level. The emphasis on preventive and the increasing focus on individual responsibility for becoming and remaining healthy along with wider access to care will help Russia attain its goals. In particular, there’s the emphasis on environmental health and the continuing clean-up of the Soviet Era pollution complex, which was quite widespread and is responsible for the high cancer rate that’s now in decline. IMO, it will be beneficial to all post-Soviet states to follow Russia’s lead on healthcare.

*
*
*
Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!