With Solidarity Center support, the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (CFTUU) published the first issue of its electronic monthly news bulletin.

	To download Bulletin, click on image.

The International News Bulletin was developed to keep the international community informed about CFTUU activities as well as key issues affecting workers in Ukraine. Published in English, the bulletin will be e-mailed to the International Trade Union Confederation, the European Trade Union Confederation, the AFL-CIO, the Solidarity Center, and international organizations in Ukraine. In addition, the CFTUU International News Flash will alert subscribers to breaking news and action items as needed.

The August 2008 inaugural issue reports on the Fifth CFTUU Congress, held in Kyiv and presided over by CFTUU General Secretary Mikhail Volynets. Volynets, a longtime friend of the Solidarity Center and the U.S. labor movement, was the 2004 recipient of the AFL-CIO’s George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award in recognition of his courage, sacrifice and leadership in building democracy in Ukraine. At the CFTUU Congress, confederation leaders pledged to work vigorously to improve the relationship between workers and employers, defend worker rights, boost union membership and public campaigns, and implement legislation aimed at protecting informal workers. The congress was preceded by a daylong seminar for women activists, who assessed the many gains for Ukrainian workers due to women’s leadership, such as improving safety and health for coal miners and preventing the closure of several kindergartens whose land had been slated for sale to private developers. Two women were recently elected as CFTUU officers.

	Workers at a construction site use safer technology to carry out their assignment.

The bulletin also describes a disturbing daylight raid by 15 unidentified intruders on the offices of Ukrtorf, a state-owned enterprise located on the floor above the CFTUU headquarters. More than 90 percent of Ukrtorf’s 1,300-some employees are CFTUU members. Volynets was injured when he and CFTUU staff members attempted to stop the raid. Although police were present, they did not interfere, and there have been no arrests to date. The article calls the raid “not only an act of vandalism, but also a symbolic threat to the safety of the Confederation.”

Also highlighted are a successful strike in the construction industry, which resulted in a 17-32 percent wage increase, and a brief discussion of the move toward privatization of coal mining. There are more than 300 coal mines in Ukraine, and the country has one of the world’s highest coal industry death rates, largely due to obsolete equipment and poor safety standards.

For more information and to subscribe to the bulletin, e-mail info@kvpu.org.ua. You can also visit the CFTUU website.