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Ukraine imposes wartime law removing labour rights

By:   []

Date: 2022-05 

Ukraine’s proposed new law to deregulate labour rights, which the government sees as part of the combined effort to thwart the Russian invasion, has set the administration at odds with the country’s trade unions.

There are fears that the new law, which has been approved by parliament but is yet to be signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, could continue after the war is concluded and lead to further exploitative working conditions in Ukraine.

The new law significantly curtails employees’ rights (on working hours, working conditions, dismissal and compensation after dismissal) and increases employers’ leverage over their workforce.

George Sandul, a lawyer with the Ukrainian workers’ rights NGO Labor Initiatives, told openDemocracy that the changes have “shocked trade unions and experts in the field”.

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“Naturally, the way people work has undergone tremendous changes during the war prompted by Russia’s invasion,” Sandul explained. “But those employees who did not lose their jobs are working day and night for the army and the Ukrainian people to obtain victory.

“It is logical that any legislative regulation should serve one main goal: strengthening the defence capability of Ukraine. This bill […] clearly does not serve this purpose, instead it puts a spoke in the wheel.”

Sandul also fears that the new law – which was authored by Halyna Tretiakova, a member of President Zelenskyi’s Servant of the People party and head of the parliamentary committee for social policies and protection of veterans’ rights – will be extended beyond the duration of the war.
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