#Ukraine: Under the cover of Putin’s war, Zelensky tears up workers’ rights
▻https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/ukraine-under-cover-war-zelensky-tears-workers-rights
Almost a month after Ukraine’s parliament adopted two anti-worker bills, President Volodymyr Zelensky finally ratified Draft Law 5371 on August 17, thereby removing union rights for most of the country’s workers.
[...] That Zelensky took so long to sign the law — he had been much quicker to ratify an earlier bill entrenching zero hour contracts — indicates he was feeling the pressure of the strong campaign waged by Ukrainian and international trade unions against it.
While this was not enough to get him to veto the law, the campaign did help secure a last minute amendment to ensure the new law can only remain in force for the duration of the war.
Under Draft Law 5371 (now Law 2423), workers in enterprises with less than 250 employees — about 70% of the workforce — could lose safeguards when it comes to work hours and protection from dismissal, as employers have been empowered to override collective contracts or statutory provisions by introducing extremely flexible individual contracts. Trade union influence over decisions concerning overtime work and employment termination have also been diminished.