Above, PCS delegation meets representatives of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU)

By Leonard Nazareth

The mood in Kyiv, when I visited with a Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), delegation on 11-14 February, was anxious over the election of Trump and the consequential end of the financial and military aid that Ukraine is completely dependent on for survival.

While the delegation was in the city, multiple Russian attacks were conducted, including drone assaults on multiple districts, and a pre-dawn strike by ballistic missiles which forced the delegation into underground bomb shelters — an experience grimly familiar to all Ukrainians. Since the delegation’s departure, the Russian regime has launched a record number of drone attacks on Kyiv, clearly attempting to deplete the stocks of the multiple air defence batteries which shield the city from the worst of the onslaught, and aiming to force a stronger hand in negotiations — talks between Trump and Putin which are deliberately excluding Ukraine (and other European countries).

In the context of that uncertainty and betrayal, Ukraine’s labour movement needs our solidarity more than ever.

Our solidarity delegation from the British civil service union PCS and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) visited Kyiv and met with a variety of trade unionists, socialists, and public sector workers, as well as representatives of Ukrainian government departments and the UN International Labour Organisation.

The delegation consisted of PCS Assistant General Secretary John Moloney, Deputy President Bev Laidlaw, Vijay Menezes-Jackson (National Executive and Scottish Executive), and Chris Marks (National Executive), alongside EPSU General Secretary Jan Willem Goudriaan.

Ukrainian trade unions are fighting on multiple fronts — to assist the war effort against the invasion, occupation and annexation of Russian imperialism; to provide aid to union members and their families to help them get through wartime conditions; to oppose the neoliberal reforms and privatisations being pushed through by the Ukrainian government, and against pervasive government corruption and the influence of oligarchs; and of course to win better pay, conditions and safety for members in spite of martial law restrictions on industrial action.

Ukraine has two main trade union confederations. The larger Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU) traces its roots to the state-run USSR union structures, as do its affiliate unions. The Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU) was a post-USSR attempt to create a labour movement with more democratic structures and rank-and-file organising, although neither appear to have structures or internal democracy meeting even the low bar of UK unions. These confederations are distrustful of each other; a fuller report will come in a future issue of Solidarity.

However, all trade unionists were completely united not only in their resolve to keep fighting the war for Ukraine’s self-determination, but to also defeat the long-running attempts to scrap the USSR-era Labour Code of Ukraine, which enshrines many protections like the right to strike (outside of martial law). In some respects it is better than equivalent UK and EU legislation, although enforcement was obviously notional in the USSR era and not guaranteed even after Ukrainian independence before the war.

There are other disputes with the government too, like the court cases over the seizure of property that trade unions inherited after the fall of the Soviet Union — the government argues these were state assets, while the unions say that the seizures were attempts at intimidation and to frustrate organising, and call for the return of their funds and premises.

Alongside meeting both confederations and several constituent unions (such as the Free Trade Union of Medical Workers of Ukraine, and the civil-service State Employees’ Union of Ukraine), the delegation also visited the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital (targeted and hit by a missile strike 8 July 2024), Trypilska coal power station in Ukrainka (hit by drones and cruise missiles 11 April 2024), and the Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Social Services in Borodianka.

In addition the delegation met with the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Energy, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Social Policy and Veterans’ Rights, the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service, and the socialist group Sotsialnyi Rukh (SR — Social Movement) with whom Workers’ Liberty supporters have met on many previous occasions.

• Republished from Workers’ Liberty
• More from the delegation on Twitter threads here and here

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