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13 July, 2005ICEM News Release No. 30/1999
Ukrainian nuclear workers' wages have been paid in full for the past three months, and reimbursement of the wage backlog owed to them is about to get under way.
Alexander Jurkin, President of the nuclear workers' union ATU, confirmed this to ICEM UPDATE today.
The back pay owed to Ukrainian nuclear workers is put at over 15 million US dollars. This March, the union threatened an indefinite strike at Chernobyl and Ukraine's four other nuclear power stations unless measures were taken to pay this debt. As a result, Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma ordered the government to settle the dispute and put the country's debt-ridden energy sector back on a sound financial footing.
Jurkin had further talks this Monday with Deputy Prime Minister V. Kurachenko, at which it was agreed that the National Bank would provide the security for new private bank loans to the Ukrainian energy ministry. These funds will be used to pay off the outstanding wage debt.
Jurkin is now in Brussels for the Executive Committee meeting of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which the ATU is affiliated. This morning, his union confirmed that the agreed process is getting under way. A planned protest march on Kiev has therefore been cancelled.
"I told the government exactly where I would be this week, that I would be in meetings with our International, and that the situation must not deteriorate again in the meantime," Jurkin commented this morning. "The government took the point."
The ICEM had organised strong international backing for the Ukrainian nuclear workers' campaign.
"This is an important victory for trade unionism in Ukraine and beyond," ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe emphasised. "In many transitional economies, the scandal of unpaid wages has driven workers and their families into deepest poverty. The Ukrainian nuclear workers, through their strong but responsible campaign, have secured a repayment plan for what they are owed. The ICEM will be watching to see that this promise is kept. And we will continue to press the governments and employers of Ukraine, Russia and other countries to ensure that all workers receive - in full and on time - the wages that are rightfully theirs."
Alexander Jurkin, President of the nuclear workers' union ATU, confirmed this to ICEM UPDATE today.
The back pay owed to Ukrainian nuclear workers is put at over 15 million US dollars. This March, the union threatened an indefinite strike at Chernobyl and Ukraine's four other nuclear power stations unless measures were taken to pay this debt. As a result, Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma ordered the government to settle the dispute and put the country's debt-ridden energy sector back on a sound financial footing.
Jurkin had further talks this Monday with Deputy Prime Minister V. Kurachenko, at which it was agreed that the National Bank would provide the security for new private bank loans to the Ukrainian energy ministry. These funds will be used to pay off the outstanding wage debt.
Jurkin is now in Brussels for the Executive Committee meeting of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which the ATU is affiliated. This morning, his union confirmed that the agreed process is getting under way. A planned protest march on Kiev has therefore been cancelled.
"I told the government exactly where I would be this week, that I would be in meetings with our International, and that the situation must not deteriorate again in the meantime," Jurkin commented this morning. "The government took the point."
The ICEM had organised strong international backing for the Ukrainian nuclear workers' campaign.
"This is an important victory for trade unionism in Ukraine and beyond," ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe emphasised. "In many transitional economies, the scandal of unpaid wages has driven workers and their families into deepest poverty. The Ukrainian nuclear workers, through their strong but responsible campaign, have secured a repayment plan for what they are owed. The ICEM will be watching to see that this promise is kept. And we will continue to press the governments and employers of Ukraine, Russia and other countries to ensure that all workers receive - in full and on time - the wages that are rightfully theirs."