International unions call on government of Ukraine to scrap legislative assault on trade union rights

On February 25, international trade unions took coordinated action to defend trade union rights in Ukraine from a proposed draft labour law that would exclude unions from the workplace, eliminate collective bargaining and basic social protections and promote mass casualization.

While unions around the world contacted Ukrainian embassies to insist the draft law be scrapped, a joint ITUC-ETUC mission to Kiev February 25-27 met with government, employer, trade union, European Union and ILO representatives to express support for the Ukrainian unions’ campaign to stop the draft from becoming law. Government representatives told the union delegation that any new legislation would be examined in the light of compliance with ILO conventions and the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.

On February 28, the IUF together with representatives of our sister global union federations and the ITUC met with representatives of the Ukraine’s Permanent Mission in Geneva to demand the government abandon the draft law, fully respect international standards and consult with the unions and seek ILO assistance in preparing any revisions to existing legislation.