Union Rights

Trade unions, employers and the government have signed a major agreement which sets out a range of measures for the coming two years. These cover green and energy issues as well as plans to increase unemployment benefit and pensions. Health workers dealing with COVID-19 will see a 30% increase on pay for the period August-December this year, around 6000 employees will benefit. There is also additional funding for municipalities to ensure that the collective agreement covering childcare nurses is fully implemented. This will particularly affect workers in small towns guaranteeing that they

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

EPSU has just published new factsheets on the right to strike in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia taking the total number of countries covered in this series to 41. This follows the addition of factsheets on Moldova, Russia and Ukraine earlier this year. Each factsheet sets out the main legal provisions and highlights any recent cases taken to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and/or the European Social Committee (ESC) of the Council of Europe. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have all been the subject of ILO and ESC cases. The ESC has ruled that all three are not in conformity with

On 30 June trade unions, supported by international union organisations, organised protests across the country, launching a week of action against government proposals to reform labour law. The substantial changes undermine trade union rights and are in conflict with the fundamental International Labour Organisation conventions (87 and 98) on the right to organise and negotiate. EPSU, along with the ETUC, has written letters of protest to the government, president and parliament.

EPSU has sent a letter to the prime minister protesting against the introduction of the so-called Shield Two law that allows for regulations to be passed to cut the jobs and pay and conditions of civil servants and other workers in public administration. Poland has not declared a state of emergency and yet the legislation was rushed through without the normal parliamentary procedure nor consultation with trade unions. Furthermore, parts of the Labour Code and legislation on collective redundancies will not apply if the regulations are implemented.

Co-ordinated international solidarity and a delegation of European and international trade union leaders have helped push the government towards revising its labour law reforms. The changes announced by the government at the end of last year would have seriously undermined trade union and employee rights and Ukrainian trade unions have been campaigning solidly against the proposals. The international delegation met a number of ministers and secured a commitment that the reforms would be revised to ensure that they are in line with International Labour Organisation conventions.