Performance of the Head of Federation Viacheslav Roi at the All - Ukrainian forum of businessmen 2010

For the Ukrainian businessmen trade unions are the trustworthy alien in questions of preservation and development of their business.


Good afternoon!


I want to welcome participants of this meeting on behalf of Federation of trade unions of workers of small and average enterprise of Ukraine.

One your colleague on the Internet - forum, discussing article on a trade-union theme, has written, I quote literally:

«And in general, all this idea of the trade-union organizations - from the point of view of any proprietor – is absolute delirium. I will ruthlessly dismiss anyone , even the most valuable employee, if it is necessary if he’ll tell such word like " trade union ". There is a Code of laws on work. That’s all. What else trade unions can be there ?»

Such scornful relation to trade unions is not a single instance. Probably, there are and among you those who thinks so.

I see it as consequence of misunderstanding by a part of our businessmen of basic value and a role of trade unions in enterprise business.

I am not going to begin read to you lecture on a theme : "Trade unions and their role in successful conducting enterprise".

I want to underline only one basic moment in relations of employers and hired workers.

Here, at the forum, both from a tribune, and in informal dialogue you necessarily will be speaking about in what way you’ll protect your business from corruption and imperfect laws much more successfully. For this purpose you will strengthen present or to create new associations of businessmen, will search for supports, if to tell easier - "the roof", at political forces - someone - in power structures, someone - in oppositional.

It is natural: you struggle for the business, and very often this struggle in ukrainian realities turns to war and consequently you search to yourselves for allies.

So I want to tell to someone, and to someone only remind that you have an ally, the ally is strategic and this are trade unions. It’s truth that today this ally is weak that owing to the different reasons which are known to you ukrainian trade-union’s movement is weak in general. But it’s such ally with whom you can agree as equals , unlike the power .

Annoyingly, that the majority of you doesn't see the ally in trade unions, and, in effect, in the hired workers. This union to you will manage much more cheaply, than, for example , "the roof" at political party. And the main thing that trade unions are your ideological ally, and consequently also the trustworthy alien because the union of businessmen and hired workers will be based on mutual interest. Hired workers and businessmen have very strong general interest - business preservation as earnings source on life for one part and a source of profit for others.

Yes, there are a lot of disagreements between employers and hired workers, and their nature is clear. But these disagreements can find reasonable and mutually advantageous balance. Try to find such balance in relations, for example, with tax administration or the separate official. You really think, that you can agree with them on a mutually advantageous basis? If yes, then, of course, can think that you can do without trade unions. Can think that it’s better to pay to certain people, and then to take away additional profit from the hired worker. Yes, it looks much easier and more safe, than to protect the profit on encroachments of the same official.

I consider that someone who thinks so and do in such way is much mistaken. This way is  very dangerous to business. Because when you will drive the workers into the corner including to satisfy the increasing and big appetites of the official and when these workers, without seeing any benefit for itself from your personal business, they’ll begin a war with you of extermination, and you will call to the aid to the state. Than finally the similar situations come to an end in the history, each of you well knows at least from a school course of history.

Also think that the corrupted power when it will decide that it is favourably for her , easily can use your malicious and poor workers against you. In other words - if you don't conclude the mutually advantageous union with trade unions, the union of the official and the hired worker against you can be at some instant created. Can you resist to such union?

Excuse me, that I dare to give to your the general advice, but proceeding from my experience of dialogue with businessmen, and such meetings for many years of trade-union’s work were a lot, I do such conclusion: overwhelming majority of the ukrainian businessmen, especially in small and average business, try to solve problem business by a principle "night to hold on, and day to stay". There is no strategic approach to the decision of fundamental issues of business in Ukraine. I will dare to remind you that adjustment by employers of strong partner relations with trade unions at enterprise level, and at national level is one of few bases of the strategic decision of problems of business, yours business of problems in particular.

I understand that in the answer I will hear from you numerous examples when trade unions simply destroys concrete business. The same anonymous businessman who promises to dismiss immediately for only the mention about trade union, speaks, I quote: "By the way, straight off I can result the whole tens examples when these, so-called trade unions, worked on the party of raiders".

Really, there are a lot of examples of participation of trade unions in illegal capture of the rights. I will answer so: at first, "it is possible for illegal trade unions and it is necessary to oppose trade unions normal, because normal trade unions – are  the best protection against so-called trade unions. Secondly, existence of "illegal" trade unions in turn also is an argument that the trade union is a force, is simple this force on the your enemies have decided to apply. They just understand that trade union are serious. Make also you such conclusion. Only use trade union not as a rough and illegal bludgeon against competitors, and as a lawful board from lawlessness, for example, from the same" illegal capture of the rights ".

The greatest problem for our trade-union Federation of small and average enterprise today is a creation of the primary organizations. Very hard and slowly goes this process. We have set of problems, since the mistrust of people brought up for the previous decades in efficiency of trade unions in general. We wouldn't like at all , overcoming these problems also to be at war with businessmen for whom the trade union for some reason seems the deadly enemy who should be destroyed completely.

I very much hope that in ours in you relations, relations of employers and trade unions, at last, will win common sense. It is equally vital both for you, and for us.

 

I wish to forum effective work.


I thank you for attention.