Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Ukraine (Ratification: 1961)

Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Regular payment of wages. The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report does not provide up to date information on the wage arrears situation on which the Committee has been commenting for a number of years. Unlike previous years, no statistical or other indications are given concerning the accumulated wage debt, any new legislative measures or relevant inspection results. The Government merely refers to its intention to elaborate a legal mechanism in order to protect workers’ wage claims in the event of the employer’s insolvency through a wage guarantee fund. To enable the Committee to effectively evaluate compliance with the Convention in law and practice, the Government is once again requested to transmit detailed information on any persistent problems with regard to the regular payment of wages, including the sector(s) concerned and the number of workers and enterprises affected, the total amount of outstanding payments, the average delay in the payment of wages and any negotiated schedule for the settlement of accumulated wage debts. In the absence of such a schedule, the Government is asked to initiate negotiations to this end.

In addition, the Committee continues to receive voluminous communications concerning the ongoing problem of unpaid wages in the Nikanor-Nova mine. By letters dated 5 and 30 May 2008, the Workers’ Union of the Nikanor-Nova Coal Mine ((NPG) denounced the extensive problems of non-payment of wages and also complained about the deteriorating living conditions of miners, especially in the town of Zorinsk. In its reply, dated 11 September 2008, the Government indicates that there is currently a one-month delay in the payment of wages at the Nikanor-Nova mine with the total wage debt amounting to 197,200 hryvna (UAH) (approximately €16,500). The Government further indicates that all mine workers, including those at the Nikanor-Nova mine, have been transferred as from 1 April 2008 to the new wage and salary scales based on a minimum monthly wage of UAH525 (approximately 43.5 euros). With respect to allowances intended to improve the living conditions of miners, the Government refers to the new Act on enhancing the prestige image of coalminers’ labour adopted on 2 September 2008, which amends the Mining Act and introduces an allowance for electricity, gas and central heating for workers employed in mining enterprises. Finally, the Government indicates that in the first seven months of 2008 the Nikanor-Nova mine spent UAH1.5 million (approximately 124,000 euros) on improvement of the occupational safety and health standards while the Ministry of Coal Industry is planning the acquisition of new protective equipment.

While noting the Government’s explanations, the Committee observes that in a new communication received in November 2008, the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of the Lugansk Region (KSPLO) refers to a resolution adopted in the KSPLO Congress of October 2008 which alleges continued failure of executive authorities to pay adequate wages punctually and calls upon public authorities to make every effort to rectify the situation. In another communication received in February 2009, the NPG complains about violations of labour legislation, in particular the delayed payment or non-payment of wages, and provides statistical information on the sums owed to the pension fund at the Nikanor-Nova mine.

Moreover, the Committee notes the communication of the NPG, dated 23 July 2009, and a similar communication of the KSPLO, dated 26 August 2009, by which the two workers’ organizations transmitted copies of recent correspondence with the labour inspectorate of the Ministry of Labour and of Social Policy, the Ministry of Coal Industry, and the management of the state enterprise “Luganskugol” pointing at the following facts: (i) in accordance with applicable collective agreements, the minimum guaranteed remuneration as from 1 July 2009 should be not lower than UAH786 (approximately 65 euros) (605 x 1.3 adjustment factor) for workers engaged in underground work and UAH726 (approximately 60 euros) (605 x 1.2) for all others; (ii) the management of the state enterprise “Luganskugol” has admitted that it is unable to pay workers at the new minimum wage rate (i.e. UAH786) for lack of sufficient financial resources; (iii) in accordance with section 3 of the Act on enhancing the prestige image of coalminers’ labour, the salary scales of coalminers must be established on the basis of a rate of the worker of category 1 which exceeds the statutory level of the minimum wage by at least 30 per cent; and (iv) the labour inspectorate last visited the state enterprise “Luganskugol” on 23 February 2009, and found that the enterprise is in violation of labour legislation for non-observance of the applicable minimum wage levels. It also observed that even though at the time of inspection no wage arrears were found, wages were paid irregularly, there were accumulated liabilities to the pension fund, and the compensation for the delay in payment was not always paid on the day of settling the wage arrears. In light of the foregoing considerations, the two workers’ organizations denounce a deliberate and systematic failure of the state enterprise “Luganskugol” (and other state-owned coal production enterprises such as “Donbassantratsit” and “Sverdlovatratsit”) to comply with state social guarantees in the field of remuneration thus depriving coalminers of a decent standard of living.

By letter, dated 8 October 2009, the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy replied to the latest communication of the NPG indicating that the Territorial State Labour Inspection in the Lugansk region carried out in 2009 inspections at the coalmine Nikanor-Nova and at the state enterprise “Luganskugol”. As a result, it was found that the minimum guarantees of labour remuneration were not observed and that the wage rate of workers was fixed without taking into account the provisions of the general and sectoral collective agreements. The Deputy Minister indicates that disciplinary action was taken against the managers of the enterprises concerned in accordance with section 188-6 of the Code of Administrative Offences, while the inspection results were forwarded to law enforcement bodies as provided for in section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

As pointed out in previous comments, the Committee is of the view that the wage situation in the Nikanor-Nova mine is not an isolated phenomenon but rather symptomatic of the difficulties of the Ukrainian coalmining industry as a whole, that is high unemployment, low profitability and poor safety record. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to communicate full particulars on the employment and working conditions prevailing in the mining sector – including the several hundred illegal mines reportedly operating in the country – and the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the regular payment of wages in the coalmining industry in accordance with applicable collective agreements.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 99th Session and to reply in detail to the present comments in 2010.]