European Style Overhaul of Labor Laws Still Not Done

The second project of the International Labor Organization to modernize employer-employee relationships will soon begin in Ukraine. The first, meant to combat unlawful child labor, has been underway since May 2001. The news was announced by First Vice Speaker Viktor Medvedchuk at an October 2 official meeting with the ILO delegation. Serious steps are being taken in that direction, he said. The Ukrainian parliament recently ratified 54 ILO requirements pertaining to the Ukrainian labor legislation, of which eight “are of fundamental strategic importance,” stressed Mr. Medvedchuk. He added that “in June and July, concerted action by the parliament and cabinet lowered pay arrears by one billion hryvnias,” meaning that the amount left is UAH 3,447,000,000.

Mr. Medvedchuk said one of the priorities now is the “need to work out and enact a new labor code” in conformity with ILO requirements. Currently, employer-employee relations are governed by the old, essentially socialist labor code (from 1971). True, repeated attempts have been made to “adapt” it to the new market realities, introducing amendments, along with new laws (on labor protection, settlement of labor conflicts, collective agreements, etc.) and regulations. But “quite often such changes found no reflection in the labor code and employer-union relationships got out of control,” The Day was told by Anatoly Shyrokov, head of the National Academy’s trade union. Viktor Medvedchuk believes the unions “are not provided with an adequate legal framework..., actually remain their old Soviet self, and are not discharging their function (as a conveyor belt between employers and workers — Author), politicking instead.” Incidentally, the process is most actively supported by the Left parties, which “often use this to build a cheap political image,” Viktor Khmilevsky, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Employers Confederation, told The Day. In a word, lawmakers have much to do to complete their European style overhaul of labor laws. In fact, the ILO delegation agreed in principle to help set up of a special center to work out and modernize labor laws in Ukraine.