IGO “Social Initiatives for Occupational Safety and Health” (LHSI) with the support of the ICF “Vidrodzhennia” within the framework of the “Humanity and Mutual Assistance” program in partnership with the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine is implementing the project Protecting workers' labor rights during the coronavirus epidemic.
The purpose of the project
Increase the capacity of FPU legal professionals to protect the labor rights of trade union members during the coronavirus pandemic
Prerequisites for project implementation
LHSI has been cooperating with the FPU for many years on the protection of labor rights of employees, overcoming stigma and discrimination, gender, communication, etc. The FPU includes 69 member organizations, including 44 all-Ukrainian trade unions and 25 territorial associations. The total number of trade union members as of January 1, 2020 is 4,407 million people, with youth accounting for 35,3%. Since the beginning of 2020 and the coronavirus epidemic, the number of applications to the FPU legal aid centers regarding violations of labor rights and discrimination of workers has increased significantly. This has become a challenge for the lawyers working there, who are not ready for such a workload and are unable to respond to all applications in a timely manner or effectively provide legal assistance. Therefore, the project will study typical cases of labor rights violations (due to the pandemic) and prepare Professorship Councils, which will help lawyers quickly resolve discrimination cases and provide prompt qualified advice. FPU lawyers will also undergo training at the seminar, where the prepared by the Management will be presented and discussed. Next, the project will collect best practices in solving labor and socio-economic problems, and present it in final publicationThe publication will be distributed among partners and posted on corporate websites.
Target audience of the project
The main target audience is the FPU lawyers (50 people) who provide legal assistance in the regions and protect the labor rights of employees. The target beneficiary of this intervention in the future is the FPU members (more than 4 million employees), especially the most vulnerable groups (women, youth, elderly people) and those employees who have already experienced discrimination during the coronavirus pandemic.
Description of the partnership that made the activity possible
The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine – FPU, the main partner of the NGO “Social Initiatives for Labor Protection and Health” in the implementation of this project. FPU has an extensive network of legal centers where trade union lawyers work. Due to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of requests for legal assistance to the FPU legal centers on issues of labor rights protection has increased, especially during socio-economic problems in various industries related to combating the spread of the COVID 19 coronavirus. Accordingly, additional technical assistance is needed to establish an operational mechanism for responding to requests regarding violations of workers' labor rights.
Expected results
More than 50 lawyers (all regions of Ukraine) will improve their knowledge and participate in a seminar in Kyiv (possibly online). More than 100 lawyers and trade union leaders will receive a Project Guide that will help them effectively address discrimination or labor rights violations on the ground. The Guide will be developed and available on the FPU and LHSI websites, as well as for those lawyers of industry trade unions who need it in their daily practice. Information about the project will be published in trade union newspapers and on industry websites. At least 50 workers will receive qualified legal assistance, and the three best cases will be described in the final publication