On October 7 trade unions across the planet marked the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) 2010. It was instituted by the International Labor Organization in 1999, but has not yet become a second First of May in Ukraine, with banners and pomp that have over the years obscured the holiday’s real meaning: protection of human rights, including the right to decent work. This year’s WDDW was the third nationwide event. Ukraine’s Confederation of Free Trade Unions organized flash mobs in Kyiv and other cities under the motto “Decent Work: The Way to Decent Living!”. Participants handed out leaflets with a stylized rose listing the demands of the Ukrainian labor unions on its petals, including “work,” “education,” “pension,” “ecology,” “medicine,” “[paid] leave,” and with the word “decent” in the center.
Even on that international occasion Ukrainian trade unions failed to show a single front. Whereas the largest Federation of Trade Unions supports the new Labor Code bill, the free labor unions are opposed to it and brand it as slavish.
“Decent work means decent working conditions, decent wages and salaries paid to people in accordance to their jobs and meant to secure a decent living,” Vasyl Kostrytsia, Ukraine’s ILO coordinator, stated on October 7, addressing a press conference organized by the Confederation. He went on to say that decent work, in the broad context, implies that no employee can be poverty-stricken — the ILO’s number one requirement, as without uprooting poverty the number of socially protected individuals will decrease in the [nearest] future.
This was also the subject of the roundtable “Well-being Through Balanced Pay: Case of Ukraine,” organized by the Razumkov Social Studies Center and the Swedish International Development Agency. Both organizations submitted a similar report. Vasyl Yurchyshyn, one of the authors of the report, director of Razumkov Center’s economic program, said: “Ukraine probably places last in Europe in terms of personal income.” He added that rampant corruption was one of the reasons. His statistics show that, while in 2000-07 positive dynamics were registered, the past couple of years have cast Ukraine back: “Unless we can straighten out this situation, we won’t show progress in terms of wages and salaries.” Experts and researchers point to yet another problem in Ukrainian society, one reminiscent of the lasting dispute about the chicken coming before the egg. In this case, it is about the possibility of raising wages before an increase in the labor productivity. Yurchyshyn believes that this is an inseparable process, and that social dialog is the only way to overcome this social stalemate.
Jorgen Strogan, the chief Swedish expert with this project, believes that a balanced and healthy payment system — which is germane to the Swedish economic model — could offer an opportunity of showing good international competitiveness results. With regard to Ukraine, his opinion is that this country needs intensive therapy to cure our social diseases, and that afterwards the well-wishing quarters will become active to secure Ukraine’s well-being. Conversely, Ulf Jakobsen, another member of the Swedish team, believes that wages and salaries cannot be relied upon as a motor, that this simply won’t work, comparing the situation tohaving a working engine in a sinking ship.
Vasyl Khara, one of the leaders of Ukraine’s labor union movement, agrees with him, saying that Ukraine’s labor productivity is four times lower than that of Europe, but wonders about Ukraine’s average pay being 20 times lower. He believes this is proof that there are resources for raising wages in this country, and that the current conditions of social labor distribution are anything but fair.
