Trade unions and POCs commented on the idea of ​​attracting prisoners to work at construction sites

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin in an interview with RBC said that an experiment to attract convicts to work at construction sites is already underway in Moscow and the Moscow region, and the possibility of using the labor of prisoners at the Vostochny training ground is also being considered.

Commenting on this statement, the head of the Confederation of Labor of Russia, Kravchenko, stated the need to adhere to the requirements of the International Labor Organization Convention No. 29, ratified by Russia in 2018, limiting the possibility of forced labor. 

“The said convention provides that forced or compulsory labor is not work or service required of any person as a result of a sentence imposed by a judicial authority, but provided that this work or service will be carried out under the supervision and control of public authorities and that the said person is not will be ceded or transferred to the disposal of individuals, companies or societies, "the trade union leader explained in an interview with RT. 

He stressed that in accordance with the international obligations assumed by Russia, free, informed and formal consent to work should be formalized in writing, for example, in the form of an employment contract, in the absence of pressure or threat of any punishment.

At the same time, working conditions and wages must comply with the requirements of labor legislation, added Kravchenko. 

The Public Monitoring Commission (POC) of Moscow is also concerned about the observance of the provisions of this convention. 

"Public monitoring commissions should monitor the implementation of the international obligations assumed by Russia in this area," said the head of the Moscow POC, Georgy Volkov, to RT.

- We have already drawn attention to the fact that the legislation does not enshrine the right of POC members to visit correctional centers where convicts involved in labor are kept.

But members of the POC should be given the right to inspect not only these centers where they live, but also industrial facilities where convicts work, and this requires amendments to the legislation. " 

Earlier, the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), Alexander Kalashnikov, proposed replacing labor migrants with Russian prisoners.