Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS REFERENCES LITERATUR IN THE UKRAINE
poned by union pressure until certain amendments
by trade unions were incorporated
(KVPU, new release of 27.05.2009). Unlike
in Russia, where a strongly neo-liberal Labour
Code has been in place since 2000, Ukrainian
trade unions were more pro-active in delaying
the de-regulation process 18 .
The effects of the new labour legislation will
be deteriorating for workers and weaken trade
unions in their protective capacity. The work
day will be prolonged to 10 hours (compared
to 8 hour-days at present). Employers will dismiss
workers within two weeks without union
approval. They will regulate enterprise-based
IR by means of their own internal provisions.
The new code no longer obliges employers to
sign collective agreements nor report on their
implementation. For disputes related to agreements
they can no longer be taken to labour
courts. In a similar manner, employers will no
longer be obliged to provide unions with office
premises or check-off systems of dues 19 .
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Collective bargaining in the existing form has
been present in Ukraine since 1993 20 . It was
introduced as an institution aiming at the
regulation of labour relations and socio-economic
interest of both workers and employers
and extended to all levels and forms
of ownership. First in the history of
Seite page 226
its existence, bargaining was designed
according to the principles (Conventions
and Recommendations) of the
ILO. As a result, in 1995 a mechanism was set
to increase wages through the development of
negotiatable coefficients.
However, in spite of the growing number
of collective agreements, its effectiveness
remained low. Workers did not consider
bargaining to be their responsibility; and collective
bargaining remained an act to be done
between the administration and trade union
committee. Yet both parties revealed a low
degree of responsibility for the promotion of
workers’ interests by means of collective agreements.
Firstly, whereas the Federation of Trade
Unions of Ukraine (FPU) alone unites around
120,000 primary organizations, the total number
of signed collective agreements as of 2007
constituted only 95,781, almost half of which
are in state administering (the highest number
of agreements by sector), education, and health
and social assistance (State Statistics Committee
of Ukraine 2008). Respectively, collective
agreements cover slightly under 10 million
workers, only 82.4% of pay-roll workers and
hardly extends to those not on pay-rolls.
Secondly, employers spent (as of 2007) only 283
hryvnya (equivalent to ca. 30 Euro) per worker
as a result of additional benefits set by bargaining.
Upom closer examination, it appears that
collective agreements mostly re-state legal
provisions, as the minimum tariff scales are the
same as that in law in 70.8%, and in only 26.6%
are they higher (State Statistics Committee of
Ukraine 2008). 2.6% of agreements even set the
tariff coefficient lower than those in law, while
5.6% of agreements set lower tariff coefficients
than in the Sectoral Agreement (the same
source). Thirdly, officially the compliance with
the collective agreements amounts to 94-96%
in average (the same source). However, according
to the Chief State Labour Inspector, Ihor
Sumovs’ky, violations are detected in 90-95%
of audited enterprises 21 . As these data demon-