The reporting conference of the Zaporizhzhia Territorial Trade Union on 30 August summarised the work of the organisation over the past three years and identified priorities for the future. According to the participants, the human rights and charity activities of the trade union became the duo that helped not only to preserve but also to strengthen the territorial trade union.
With the start of the full-scale invasion, the trade union committee focused on promptly providing the most necessary assistance to trade union members. It assisted in evacuation and resettlement, transferred food and household chemicals to union members in the temporarily occupied territories, and helped with the equipment of mobilised workers.
In 2022, joint efforts with the Prydniprovska Railways trade union helped to extend the downtime for employees who were displaced in the temporarily occupied territories. We managed to protect IDP workers with whom the employer was going to suspend their employment. We provided legal advice to railway workers and made submissions to employers.
At the same time, the trade union tried to use all possible resources to meet the immediate needs of the union members.
The chairmen of the primary and terkom units are grateful to the Trade Union Council and international partners for providing food packages, household chemicals, generators, and assistance in equipping the shelter with the necessary equipment, mattresses, and bedding.
The active cooperation with the regional military administration, the regional branch of the Red Cross, the Caritas-Zaporizhzhia charity and other partners, thanks to which the trade union could support the unionists, was also noted.
The children of the union members remember the swimming pool trips organised by the trade union committee and the holidays, which were actively organised by the youth council of the territorial trade union.
And this year, with the support of the Free UA Foundation, Terkom presented backpacks filled with stationery, notebooks, art kits and all the necessary supplies to first and fifth graders from Zaporizhzhia’s frontline communities.
The conference participants gave a good assessment of the work of the trade union committee. The tasks for the next period include continuing human rights work, in particular on the restoration of benefits and guarantees under collective agreements, expanding cooperation with partner organisations and improving information work in primary healthcare centres, in particular through the wider use of messengers and social media.
