2015 ITUC Global Rights Index - Ukraine

2015 ITUC Global Rights Index Rating: 5

Violence and intimidation against trade unions:

Ukrainian trade unions reported in June 2014 that they faced constant attacks against their leadership and members by nationalist radicals. A meeting of the Presidium of the FPU national trade union centre was interrupted by a crowd seeking to intervene in the meeting, while in the Verhovna Rada, the Ukranian Parliament, a resolution was tabled seeking an investigation into the union's activities and especially the use of the properties of the union. For many years there have been attempts to confiscate buildings, holiday and health resorts to make the work of the unions more difficult and to seize on prime real estate. The resolution in the Rada accused the unions of having relations with the past government, now considered to have been criminal. The unions underlined that they have relations with governments and employers in order to defend workers' rights.

The most worrying developments however have been in Eastern Ukraine with continued interventions by armed groups in the internal affairs of the unions. This included, notably, attempts to bring the Federation of Trade Unions of Lugansk Oblast (FPLO) under the control of the self-proclaimed leaders of the "Lugansk People's Republic". FPLO officials were told, at gunpoint, to convene a meeting of the Federation to disaffiliate from the national trade union centre FPU and were threatened with reprisals if they took part in FPU meetings. The Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU) national centre also reported violence and intimidation against its members and officials in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Independent union leader victimised:

In August, the KVPU reported that a representative of one of its new branch unions was being victimised. The Free Trade Union of Railway Workers of Ukraine (VPZU) was created after workers at the municipal authority-owned company Electrotrans in Khmelnitsky (central-west Ukraine) faced a three month delay in the payment of their salaries. Management responded to the creation of the union by trying to destroy it and victimising its representative Anastasia Podpruzhnikova. They threatened to sack her, and made her drive old, unsafe trolley buses during her shifts. The Director of the company was also a member of the city council and used his position to force a doctor to destroy Podpruzhnikova's sickness record and registered absences. The company imposed an illegal penalty on her for being a member of the trade union committee, and local traffic police stopped Anastasia for no reason. An officer advised her "to resign from this work, because you are going to have big problems".

Miners' union leader murdered:

Ivan Reznichenko, an activist in the Independent Trade Union of Coal Miners of Ukraine (NPGU), was found dead on 14 January 2015. Ivan was the head of the primary trade union at state enterprise "Artemsil" and a member of the Solidar Town Council (Donetsk oblast) from Batkivshina. Ivan disappeared 21 June 2014. His body was found in by a friend and fellow town councilor in a salt pit. He had been shot twice in the head and had his throat slashed. He is thought to have been killed by separatists.

Unions banned by pro-Russian separatists:

On 20 January 2015, the Minister of Justice of the self-proclaimed Luhansk Peoples Republic issued an order banning the registration of independent trade unions. The first union to feel the effect of the ban was the Independent Miners Union which applied on 16 January to register at the Barakov Coal Mine, but was denied registration under the terms of the new order. The territory under the control of the Russian para-military forces of the Donetsk Peoples Republic and the Luhansk Peoples Republic has an appalling trade union rights record. Both the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine and the Confederation of Free Trade Unions have recorded extensive human rights violations against their unions. Miners' wages and holidays have been cut, where wages are actually being paid. While existing trade unions are being banned, a number of yellow unions have been set up.

The ITUC Global Rights Index Ratings:

1 // Irregular violation of rights
Collective labour rights are generally guaranteed. Workers can freely associate and defend their rights collectively with the government and/or companies and can improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Violations against workers are not absent but do not occur on a regular basis.

2 // Repeated violation of rights
Countries with a rating of 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under repeated attacks by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

3 // Regular violation of rights
Governments and/or companies are regularly interfering in collective labour rights or are failing to fully guarantee important aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws and/or certain practices which make frequent violations possible.

4 // Systematic violation of rights
Workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under threat.

5 // No guarantee of rights
Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

5+ // No guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law
Workers in countries with the rating 5+ have equally limited rights as countries with the rating 5. However, in countries with the rating 5+ this is linked to dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. In such cases, the country is assigned the rating of 5+ by default.