Meet Lidiya Naryzhnyak, Deputy Chairman of the Trade Union Youth Council. Lidiya is a manager of the production staff of the Lviv region of the station operation service, chairman of the youth council of the primary, deputy chairman of the youth council of the road trade union of the regional branch of Lviv Railway.
– Lydia, how did you get into the railway?
– I probably had no choice – we are a railway dynasty. My great-grandfather was a railway worker, my grandparents, my mother and uncle followed. My brother also became a railwayman. I have been working on the railway since 2022. And when I joined the management of the Lviv railway, the head of our trade union, Ivan Varkholiak, told me about the trade union, the work of the trade union committee, and youth councils. He offered me to try my hand at it. I was elected chairman of the youth council of the primary, and delegated to the youth councils of the road trade union and the trade union. I was elected deputy youth leader in both.
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– What is the difference between their work?
– The difference is in the concentration of activity. There are few young people in the primary and few want to do anything additional. The youth council of the road trade union has more ideas and a desire to implement them. And in the Youth Council of the union, we met people who need constant movement, we work on different projects and everyone has their own area of work and tasks. For example, I help manage the Youth Council’s social media pages and help organise events.
We have many important projects: training for trade union youth, adaptation training for veterans upon their return to work, environmental campaigns, and a webinar on women’s labour rights. Thanks to the help of Oleksiy Semerun, the head of the trade union, and Kateryna Izmailova, the head of the Youth Council, we managed to restore the suspended childbirth benefits to railway workers. We also made amendments to the collective agreements of two regional branches, where such payments were not provided for.
– The Youth Council maintains close ties with the youth branches of other trade unions, including seafarers. Do you have much in common?
– Yes, because we still want to see more young people in the transport industry. And more opportunities for young people. In September, I represented our Youth Council at the Youth Forum of the Maritime Transport Workers’ Trade Union of Ukraine. One of the key topics was the importance of human capital for the sustainable development of Ukraine and the role of young people in the development of the transport system. Seafarers are also concerned about employment, wages and working conditions. I liked the fact that their trade union and the Youth Council start working with young people as early as in educational institutions.
We are currently participating in the career guidance project ‘Successful Start of a Railway Career’. Representatives of our youth, together with employees of the Centre for Professional Development of Personnel of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, visited educational institutions across Ukraine and invited young people to the railway. Colleagues from the CPDP told them about work at UZ, and we told them about the trade union and the Youth Council. Now my mentees, students from the Department of Transport Technologies at Lviv Polytechnic, are preparing for the second stage of the programme, where they can receive funding for their student project. We want to show that there are opportunities and stable jobs for young railway workers.
– Do you manage to interest young people?
– Yes. I talked to senior students, many of whom have already worked in depots, as assistant drivers and conductors, and they love it. But the low salary, especially at the start, stops them.
The second point is that they see no prospects for career development. You come to work as a station duty officer, and it seems that this is your maximum, nothing will change. But it is very important for young people to develop, not to stand still. And we tell them that there are various opportunities at the railway.
And the third point noted by members of youth councils is that there is a lack of mentoring at the beginning of their work. There is no one to turn to with simple questions. And sometimes there are conflicts with the older generation. And a mentor would soften these moments, introduce them to the team, and give them some advice. It’s good that now there is an online union reception where you can go.
It is interesting for young people to work on the railway. It’s family traditions, and the fact that our work is really important, especially during the war, and people see that. And the fact that railway workers control traffic, new trains and new equipment appear. Technical students are interested in this. But they choose options with higher salaries. This is the main issue that needs to be addressed to attract young people to the railway.
– You are a young mother, how do you manage everything?
– The main secret is that I love my job and I really enjoy what we do at the Youth Council!
