“Reunion Trade Union 2025” – Kyiv Regional Camp for Union Youth

On August 15–16, Labor Initiatives co-hosted a two-day youth camp in Kyiv for 25 young union leaders from the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU) from the Kyiv region.

Since 2021, “Reunion Trade Union” has been held as a youth summer camp focused on strengthening union capacity in Kyiv city and the surrounding region. With the start of the full-scale invasion, this camp has been led by the core group of the Trade Union Lifeline initiative.

Young FPU union leaders from the Kyiv region, particularly from the food processing, pharmaceutical, railway, and public service sectors, formed the backbone of the Trade Union Lifeline (TUL) initiative, established at the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion. This initiative was mainly made possible by the networks of union leaders that formed after numerous educational union events held by SC in Ukraine and Labor Initiatives.

The Solidarity Center (SC) in Ukraine and Labor Initiatives NGO are key participants in the Trade Union Lifeline. The office of Labor Initiatives serves as a focal point of humanitarian efforts during the early years of the full-scale invasion and continues to be a hub for other TUL activities.

Since the humanitarian needs are not as severe as in 2022, TUL members want to focus on other areas, with a particular emphasis on youth involvement in all labor-related fields and increasing union density in Ukraine by young, active leaders.

Over two days, the agenda featured legal sessions by Labor Initiatives, presentations from Labor Inspectorate officials on official job preferences and their significance for young people, and discussions about the role of unions and youth in Ukraine’s union movement. A strategic session also focused on developing ideas for the upcoming territorial collective agreement in the Kyiv region.

Alina Antonenko, a lawyer affiliated with Labor Initiatives, participated in a panel discussion on war veterans’ labor reintegration. Two other speakers shared their experiences with the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation and a leading pharmaceutical company regarding veterans’ adaptation and employment. Meanwhile, Alina presented a handbook on labor rights and guarantees for war veterans, which was developed by LI, and discussed the labor aspects of veterans’ return to their previous workplaces.

This topic has garnered interest among participants, as many young people are now war veterans requiring explicit support and a multifaceted approach that addresses both their unique needs and those of their families. This includes providing educational opportunities, supporting employment and vocational training, and creating supportive community environments.

On the second day of the camp, LI lawyers Inna Kudinska and George Sandul led a legal session on the first workplace for youth. They also discussed traps of informal and semiformal employment, recent updates to labor laws during wartime, and addressed questions about union formation practices and legal remedies in Ukraine.

*This event is part of the program “Trade Unions Fighting Inequality and Reconstructing Peace and Democracy in Ukraine”, implemented by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) in partnership with the NGO Labor Initiatives, with financial support from Norway.