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29 November, 2010
A series of protests by Ukrainian trade unions has succeeded in delaying for now consideration of bitter amendments to the country’s labour code by the Verkhovna Rada, its Parliament. The delay, mustered by a combination of trade union and opposition party pressure, means that the ILO will now have an opportunity to assess the revisions and make recommendations under its labour standards and laws process.
On 17 November, in a letter to Ukraine Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, the ICEM signaled its desire that the labour code revisions be put on hold. That letter can be found here.
Two days earlier, some 100 trade union demonstrators gathered in front of the Rada to protest the ruling party’s rush to enact the law. At the time, a conciliation council of committee leaders and opposition leaders was meeting to take direction on the draconian measure.
Besides waiting on the ILO’s recommendation, trade unions seek full parliamentary hearings on the proposed changes. The draft revisions were submitted to the ILO in July and it is hoped that an opinion will be rendered late this month or in December.
The proposed revisions include lifting the standard work week from 40 hours to 48; reducing the amount of time for redundancy notice from 60 days to two weeks; and granting employers at small enterprises the option to reduce remuneration.
In addition, a revision would weaken or even eliminate collective agreements by giving employers unilateral regulatory discretion over labour relations. One labour leader predicted that if this latter provision was enacted that within six months, up to 70% of Ukrainian employers would either terminate existing agreements, or avoid signing new ones.
The ICEM stated that such revisions would be contrary to both international labour standards, as well as European standards.