Right to Strike in the Public Service Sector

On November 21, Labor Initiatives’ was invited to speak at the webinar organized by the Public Servants Union of Ukraine in cooperation with the ST Swedish union on the right to strike for public service sector workers. Experts from the UK trade unions GMB and PCS also shared their experience on the issue. 

Presenting, George Sandul from LI, described the current situation with realizing the right to strike by public servants in Ukraine. He also stressed the problematic issues of draft law No.12034, which aimed to modify the whole system of collective labor disputes, including the right to strike. 

Under current legislation on public service, all categories (“A”, “B”, “C”) of public servants in Ukraine are prohibited from initiating/participating in strikes. The new draft law partly cancels this prohibition, allowing strikes only for one category – “C.” Public servants of categories “A” and “B” authorized to perform functions on behalf of the state will not be entitled to exercise the right to strike.

George Sandul pointed out that international practice is based on the idea that public servants who do not provide very limited essential services should exercise their right to strike. In this regard, any amendments to legislation should conform with this principle not to impose over-broad restrictions for certain categories of public servants.