The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) called on the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, on 19 August, to intervene with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, to reverse a bill adopted in July by the Ukrainian Parliament to simplify labour relations rules for small and medium-sized enterprises.
ETUC and ITUC denounce deregulation as destroying “the collective rights which are the core of the EU social model”.
A letter, made public on 24 August, was sent to the two leaders to this effect. The bill ‘5371’, which the Ukrainian President has just signed, “will deny labour protections and collective rights to workers of organisations with less than 250 employees, will create two-tier labour market and establish incentives for employers to split organisations into smaller legal entities at the expense of workers and trade union rights”, the two entities explain.
This bill removes employees of companies with less than 250 employees from the scope of the Labour Code of Ukraine. These companies account for more than 80% of all enterprises in Ukraine, according to the independent Ukrainian trade union Zahist Pratsi.
“Ukraine will need unity for national reconstruction built on respect for labour rights and social dialogue as the basis for a new industrial and employment policy. The adoption of this highly controversial piece of legislation will not contribute to the realisation of that goal, on the contrary, it will undermine it”, ETUC and ITUC continue. “The application of the bill 5371 will cause irreparable damage to the industrial relations in the country”.
The two organisations say that this law is also “a new stage in the persistent attack on Ukraine’s trade unions”.
Link to post: https://aeur.eu/f/2th (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)