28 February, 2011
ICEM’s two mine union affiliates in Ukraine played crucial roles in the ratification 15 February of ILO Convention 176 by the country’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, is a major priority for the ICEM.
Ukraine became the 25th country to ratify Convention 176 since 1995 and that was due mainly to the efforts of the Coal Industry Workers’ Union of Ukraine (PRUPU) and the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine. Leaders of both unions, Victor Turmanov and Mikhail Volynets, are members of the Rada.
PRUPU's Victor Turmanov
Turmanov said the effort began in earnest in 2008 when the unions and Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU) Chairman Vasyl Khara began meeting with federal coal industry officials, as well as with managing directors of mining enterprises. Khara was chairman of the Donetsk Region Council of Trade Unions. He is also an MP.
A major barrier was broken when senior leaders of the Donetsk region’s coal to electric energy company, DTEK, agreed to support ratification, after Coal Industry Minister Viktor Poltavets –a one-time mining engineer at Sverdlov Anthracite – agreed to the global Convention.
“We took an important step in ratification because it will provide a more holistic approach to mine health and safety in Ukraine,” said Turmanov. “This will strengthen protection for miners, toughen the responsibilities placed on employers, and finally place national precedence on mine safety issues.”
Mikhail Volynets, Independent Trade Union of Miners
Volynets said most Ukrainian mines have antiquated equipment and use old technologies, and he said implementation of Article 7 of Convention 176 will be important in Ukraine. Article 7’s nine provisions refer to an employer’s responsibility to minimize all risks in mining, including such standards that two exits of separate egress must come from underground mines.
Volynets said Ukraine’s coal mining industry is the world’s second most hazardous behind China, and Ukraine is home to thousands of illegal mines. “It is critically important for Ukrainian unions, with ICEM support, to address the issue of illegal mines in ILO committees,” said Volynets.
“But, in fact, every mine whether state-owned or private has its own violations or infractions of safe mining and that should get solved in implementing Convention 176 here.”
Convention 176 will take full effect in 12 months in Ukraine, with the expectation that the country’s national laws on mine safety will get updated to comply with global standards.
The Convention spells out responsibilities for government, employers, and workers and their trade unions, and specifically gives miners the right to report hazards, dangerous conditions and accidents, as well as the right to refuse unsafe work.
For employers, Convention 176 places responsibility on them to not only remove workplace hazards, but remove the causes of those hazards. The Convention also mandates that employers provide adequate safety training programmes to workers and ensure a regular routine of occupational health surveillance of miners.
Of vital importance, the Convention gives workers and their trade unions participation in inspections and accident investigations, and allows workers to select their own safety and health representatives in full partnership with employers and governmental regulatory bodies.
Ukraine is the first major mining country to ratify Convention 176 since Peru ratified it in June 2007.