The date of the Conference were not chosen by chance, although the transformations caused by the development of market relations and the appearance of new property forms have been evident in the Sector for the last ten years. Nowadays, due to coming of major multinational corporations into the Russian market, changes of the commerce personnel employment and working conditions are speeding up with every coming day. The majority of the Sectoral formerly state-owned enterprises found themselves in a difficult situation characterized not only by tough competition, but also by impacts of the Governmental policy. Every year about 200 shops are closing down in Moscow . New forms of property and ever aggressive appearance of foreign capital lead to serious conflicts and problems.
Trade unions have to operate in such a complicated situation.
They not only have to survive in a new context, but to learn how to work effectively on a principally new basis. With opening new shops and interference of multinationals, the level of social guarantees for the employees dramatically drops down. Besides, enterprise management often occupies anti-union standpoints. In spite of the fact that multinationals have not yet made massive investments into the Russian market, the process of their coming in seems to start gaining momentum. Such companies as Stockman, IKEA, and the like, have already opened their outlets in Moscow.