The Federation of Trade Unions’ warnings regarding certain provisions of the law "On the Safety and Health of Workers at Work" are well-founded, as they concern a possible narrowing of social guarantees for workers employed in difficult and hazardous conditions. People’s Deputy and head of the inter-factional parliamentary association "Trade Unions of Ukraine" Andrii Klochko expressed this view in an exclusive comment to UNN.
Details
Klochko agrees with the FPU’s position regarding certain provisions of the law. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of the document’s European integration objective and the need for further dialogue on improving it.
The adopted law is not perfect, and this should be discussed openly. But it is important to understand the context. This is a European integration law that implements EU Framework Directive 89/391/EEC — the basis on which occupational safety legislation in Europe rests. Its essence is the transition from the "inspector and violator" model to a risk-oriented approach: the employer is required to systematically assess occupational risks and prevent them, rather than merely respond to the consequences
He added that, during the preparation of the final version, the positions of trade unions, employers, the government, and parliamentary committees did not fully coincide, and therefore the final document can be called a compromise between "how one would like it to be" and "what it was possible to adopt".
At the same time, the MP supported the trade unions’ warnings regarding the preservation of benefits and guarantees for workers in hazardous industries.
I stand in solidarity with the position of the trade unions on this issue. Some believe that the system of additional payments, extra leave, and reduced working hours is outdated, but we need to take our realities into account: the condition of production assets, the level of occupational injuries, and practices that have developed over decades. Guarantees for people who work in hazardous conditions every day cannot be removed before the conditions themselves have actually improved
He also noted that the Main Legal Department of the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada had drawn attention to the risks of narrowing certain guarantees. According to Andrii Klochko, he had also studied the positions of sectoral trade unions, including the Metallurgical Workers’ Trade Union.
Unfortunately, a substantive dialogue took place only when the bill was ready for its second reading. At that stage, the choice was a stark one: to adopt it in the committee’s version — or reject it or send it for a repeat second reading and derail the schedule for adopting European integration laws. Halting the movement toward the EU would have been a bigger mistake
Andrii Klochko believes that it is necessary to assess going forward how the new mechanisms will work and whether concerns about workers’ situation will prove justified.
If monitoring shows a real deterioration in workers’ situation, legislative changes will be initiated
He named the inter-factional parliamentary association "Trade Unions of Ukraine" and the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council, which includes representatives of the state, employers, and trade unions, as platforms for developing proposals.
Additionally
On October 12, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in its second reading draft law No. 10147 "On the Safety and Health of Workers at Work." However, Serhii Byzov, head of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, reported that the draft law passed by parliament contains provisions that could weaken worker protections. According to him, this concerns risks to workplace safety, compensation for victims, and social guarantees for people working in difficult and hazardous conditions.