Soviets Want West to Help Solve Problem of Jobless
The Soviet Union, concerned about rising unemployment as it liberalizes its economy, wants to send migrant workers to find jobs in the West, a top Soviet labor official said today.
From 4 million to 5 million Soviet citizens could lose their jobs over the next two years as Moscow moves toward a market economy, said Vladimir Shcherbakov, chairman of the state committee for labor and social affairs.
Once a new law is promulgated later this year allowing Soviet citizens to work abroad, many of those thrown out of work will try to find jobs in the West, he added.
“This process must be discussed very seriously,” he said at a news conference during the annual meeting of the International Labor Organization in Geneva.
Shcherbakov said he had discussed the issue of Soviet migrant workers this week with U.S. Labor Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole and the labor ministers of Britain, France, West Germany, Belgium, Finland and Sweden.
The Soviet official said he had proposed holding an international conference to discuss migrant labor from the whole of Eastern Europe, where economic reforms are creating a vast army of unemployed.
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