Update 25 August: According to OpenDemocracy, President Zelensky did not veto the anti-worker bill, but added a qualification that it will be effective for as long as the country is under martial law. The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine is launching a challenge to Law 5371 in the country’s constitutional court. This isn't over!
Ukrainian trade unions successfully beat back attempts to slash labour protections in 2020 and 2021. But last month – with the country under martial law because of Russia's invasion – MPs voted for a bill that strips protections from millions of workers.
The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine is now asking President Zelensky to veto the bill.
It’s called the “draft law 5371”, and President Zelensky will be asked to sign it soon. If he signs, then Ukraine’s national labour law will no longer apply to small- and medium-sized enterprises where most people work. It’s a profits-over-people bill and a recipe for every kind of labour rights abuse!
Ask President Zelensky to veto the bill.
According to OpenDemocracy, the bill was criticized before by the UN’s International Labour Organization, as well as Ukrainian and European trade unions, on the basis that it could infringe international labour standards.
SumOfUs is campaigning to cut off funding to Putin’s war machine, and members have donated generously to help people fleeing from Ukraine. We’re with the oppressed, never the oppressors. That’s why we’ve got to help Ukraine’s trade unions resist this awful bill, and the abuses it will lead to.
Ask Zelensky to defend workers rights, and veto the draft law 5371.
More information
OpenDemocracy. 20 July 2022.
OpenDemocracy. 10 November 2021.
Social Europe. 10 August 2022.