The Ukrainian authorities use criminal investigations and the judiciary to seize trade union properties. The state agencies entered trade union premises during the congress of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FTUU), detracting from and paralysing legitimate trade union activities.
The incidents have been reported to the ILO, which requested the government to engage in consultations with the trade union organisations in order to find a mutually agreeable solution. Instead, the government has commenced an expedited legislative process to adopt draft legislation on “the legal regime of property of all-union public associations (organisations) of the former USSR”). The legal uncertainty, the absence of legislative predictability, and the general sense of insecurity for trade unions occasioned by these systematic attacks and constant legislative debates surrounding the operation of trade unions undermines trade union activities and the full exercise of trade union rights in Ukraine.
