National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova
The National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (, CNSM) is the sole national trade union center in the country, consisting of 25 federated members. It was founded in June 2007 as a merger between the Confederation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Moldova (CSRM) and the Confederation of Free Trade Unions Moldova (Solidarity). History. The CNSM traces its history to the first independent unions of the glasnost period and the emergence of Moldova as an independent republic following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1990, Soviet law reforms allowed trade unions  to act independently. Following the 11th Congress of trade unions of the Moldovan SSR, the Moldovan Federation of Trade Unions (MFTU) was declared independent and became vocal in advocating the right to strike and to defend labour rights and standards. On 28 September 1990, 25 industry unions from the MFTU held their first Congress as an independent organisation. In 1992, the MFTU was renamed the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Moldova following the end of the Soviet Union. In 1993, the organisation was again change name to the General Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Moldova (FGSRM ). In the 1990s the FGSRM struggled to maintain membership - in 1990 the MFTU had 2.15 million members, in January 1999 the FGSRM reported slightly less than 1 million members. The decline was attributed to multiple factors, including the loss of more than 300,000 members in the break-away region of Transdinistr, the disappearance of social services (holidays, education, training) provided by the Federation during the Soviet-period, widespread privatization of state-assets and subsequent losses of employment, anti-union actions of company owners and managers, failures to oppose government measures liberalising the economy and internal conflict between the Federation's  leadership and affiliated unions.