Union Rights, Transparency & Corruption, Central government, Ukraine, Moldova

The SINDLEX trade union federation has been negotiating for three years to try to secure improvements in pay and conditions for a range occupations in the Ministry of Interior including police, prison staff, emergency workers and firefighters. The union is calling for pay commensurate with these workers’ responsibilities and competences. It also wants the government to end the moratorium on recruitment and tackle the serious understaffing that has led to pressure on remaining staff and high levels of overtime which often goes unpaid. EPSU sent a letter to the Prime Minister in support of the

EPSU has joined with the European and global trade union confederations, ETUC and ITUC, in protests over anti-union legislation passed by the Ukrainian parliament. A major concern is law 5371, which has been attacked by the FPSU confederation for severely restricting employment protection, but other legislation also weakens workers’ rights, including law 5161 which allows the use of zero-hours contracts. The ETUC and ITUC have called on the European institutions to intervene in the light of Ukraine’s new status as an EU candidate country. EPSU has also written to the European Commission about

Thousands of trade unionists took to the streets of Kiev again on 7 October in their long-running campaign against government proposals for labour reforms. The legal changes have been condemned by the international trade union movement and clearly contravene key International Labour Organisation conventions. The demonstration was also used to call for a range of measures including increases to the minimum wage and social benefits.

EPSU is supporting the call by the international and European trade union confederations – ITUC and ETUC – for parliament to suspend the current discussion on labour law reform. The international trade union movement is backing the Ukrainian unions in their long-running campaign to block the reforms and to start a proper process of consultation with trade unions. Analysis of a number of draft laws shows that they are incompatible with International Labour Organisation conventions and EU social legislation, undermining workers’ basic employment rights as well as working time and health and

The FPSU trade union confederation continues to lobby and campaign against legislation being proposed by the government that will seriously undermine worker and trade union rights. The confederation organised meetings with MPs at the parliament on 29 April. Unions have repeatedly pointed out, with support from international trade union bodies, that the proposed laws conflict with International Labour Organisation conventions as well as the Ukrainian constitution. Draft law 5371, for example, will create new categories of employees and effectively deny basic rights to organise and collectively

The FPSU trade union confederation coordinated protests and picketing outside the parliament on 2-3 December as part of its long-running campaign against legislation that is set to seriously curtail trade union and worker rights. The legislation has been attacked by international trade union bodies and criticised by the International Labour Organisation. The legislative process has also involved the repeal of many laws on health and safety. At the same time, unions are calling on changes to the state budget to ensure increases in the minimum wage and state pension as well as action to address

Following a letter from the FPSU trade union confederation, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association has written to the President to raise serious concerns about the latest developments in labour law reform. The original government proposals from December 2019 were widely attacked by the Ukrainian and international labour movements. However, recent amendments haven't dealt with many of the trade union concerns. These include among other issues: arbitrarily reducing the number of workplace unions; denying managerial staff the right