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Union Resilience Amidst Covid-19 in Ukraine – NEW PUBLICATION

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In August 2023, the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW) released its newest Issue Brief – Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic and the Law, which includes an essay with an analysis of how workers fought for their lives and livelihood during the COVID-19 pandemic by using the law to their advantage. It is accompanied by 11 country-specific case studies detailing worker wins during the pandemic. 

One of the case studies was written by George Sandul, Labor Initiatives legal director, and Inna Kudinska, a lawyer affiliated with the Solidarity Center and Labor Initiatives. The authors highlighted the working conditions at the largest privately owned national logistics company, Nova Poshta, and the trade union’s trailblazing role in establishing groundbreaking health and safety protections against Covid-19 through the collective bargaining process.

Due to the constructive social dialogue and the Nova Poshta Union’s active position, the workers of the company had the following guarantees and benefits during the pandemic: 

• the company did not declare a standstill or provide unpaid leave for all employees during the pandemic restrictions. Nova Poshta employees managed to preserve their wages and benefits during the initial phases of the Covid-19 quarantine;

• all workers were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE); 

• all the company’s delivery offices throughout Ukraine were equipped with special transparent barriers to provide better protection for operators working with clients;

• employees who worked for three months or more were provided with health insurance for one month (with a possibility of extension); 

• a specialized service for union members launched by the Union – sending disinfectants to each member, educational materials for the workers’ children, and vouchers for UAH 1,000 for each union member above age 50 and in the Covid-19 risk group; 

• clauses regarding remote work in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA); 

• one paid day of extra leave for those workers who were vaccinated and provided a relevant medical certificate (leave is granted on the day following the day of Covid-19 vaccination).

To learn more details about the role of the Nova Poshta Union during the Covid-19 pandemic, read the full article here.