Journalists and trade union representatives discuss protection of labor rights during martial law

The online forum called Protection of Labor Rights During Martial Law was held on March 13 by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FTUU). The annual event, which has been held for the third time, became a platform for discussing current issues of labor legislation, the rights of media workers, and the prospects for social dialogue in the country.

The forum was attended by more than 80 representatives of the media sphere and trade unions: editors and journalists from Kyiv, regions of Ukraine, including frontline territories, and trade unionists from different parts of the country.

NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko emphasized the importance of protecting the labor rights of media workers as an integral part of the country’s recovery.

“The NUJU, with the support of the European Federation of Journalists, has called on the Ukrainian government and international financial donors to include support for local media in all programs for the reconstruction of Ukraine and its regions,” Sergiy Tomilenko emphasized. “That is, it is important not only to talk about the reconstruction of destroyed cities and infrastructure, but also to ensure people’s access to information, public control over the spending of funds, and the quality of implementation of all reconstruction projects.”

The Chairman of the FTUU, Hryhorii Osovyi, in his speech, spoke about the scale of human rights activities of trade unions: “Last year, we provided 183,738 consultations, that is, more than 180,000 people received direct support from trade unions on issues that concerned them at enterprises and institutions. As a result of such advocacy for workers’ rights, UAH 652,829,000 were awarded for collection in their favor. Most of these are wage debts.”

During the forum, the participants discussed a number of topical issues, including: labor reform and the development of a new Labor Code of Ukraine, changes in legislation on the safety and health of workers, freezing social standards for 2025-2027, features of the pension reform and the proposed point pension system, vacation rights under martial law, remote work and its legislative regulation, legal mechanisms for resolving labor disputes.

Deputy Chairman of the FTUU Oleksandr Shubin spoke about the risk-based approach to labor protection and the role of trade unions in the process of developing the new Labor Code. He emphasized the importance of the European integration direction of the reforms: “We are working on the implementation of European directives. Many do not understand that the focus of attention is on those directives that were included in the Association Agreement, but the European Union has continued to develop all these years. We need not only to fulfill the list of associated documents but also to catch up on ten years of European debates and reforms.”

The head of the FTUU legal protection department, Heorhii Selivanov, noted that modern labor law should apply not only to employees with employment contracts but also to self-employed persons and those working under civil law agreements.

Svitlana Makohaniuk, the head of the budget and remuneration department, presented the position of trade unions on freezing social standards, emphasizing the inconsistency of the current minimum wage with the real subsistence minimum.

Considerable attention was paid during the discussion to the issue of using vacations in wartime. Viktoriya Lepshanska, the editor-in-chief of the legal publication and head of the FTUU legal aid center, recalled the principle of “give back what you earn” – every earned day of vacation and every hryvnia for compensation for this vacation is the property of the employee. It cannot be “forgiven” by employers, even in martial law.

Media professionals are particularly concerned about the situation with the closure of regional media. Sergiy Tomilenko noted that “unfortunately, every month, we receive alarming news about the closure of various media outlets. In particular, in Odesa, which was once the capital of regional broadcasting and had 27 licenses, only one TV channel remains.”

Following the forum, it was decided that the materials of the meeting would be prepared within the framework of the “We are from Ukraine” press club and distributed in Ukrainian media with a special emphasis on frontline and de-occupied territories to ensure maximum access for citizens to important information about labor rights.

The next joint event of the NUJU and FTUU is planned to be held in a quarter to continue the discussion of topical issues of protecting the labor rights of journalists and all workers under martial law.

NUJU Information Service