Ukrainian trade union leader praises revolution, continues fight (08/07/05)

Ukrainian trade union leader praises revolution, continues fight

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

WASHINGTON - On November 22, 2004, Mikhail Volynets led a large group of miners into Kyiv's main square to support Viktor Yushchenko and helped achieve democracy for his country in what is referred to as Ukraine's Orange Revolution.

According to Mr. Volynets, the president of the Confederation for Free Trade Unions of Ukraine, "the revolution took place at the top level only" with the election of a democratic president and prime minister, "but on the local level nothing has changed."

Speaking to an RFE/RL audience in late July Mr. Volynets said that is why he is concerned that economic reforms continue and political reforms deepen across the society.

Mr. Volynets and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Ukraine have been staunch advocates for workers' rights and human rights in Ukraine.

He reviewed the growth of the independent labor union in Ukraine, which began in 1989 with a miners' strike. "Our protest movement grew into a workers' movement" said Mr. Volynets. "The Solidarity Center [of the AFL-CIO] visited us," and soon the leaders of "the strike committees became leaders of trade unions."

Over the last decade, "we made lots of mistakes," but when finally "we understood there was no democracy in our country, Mr. Volynets said, "journalists were [being] killed and this was connected to [the] top leaders. There was no plan to integrate with the West, so we moved to the opposition movement."

The independent labor unions have had lots of political experience because the political parties remain weak in Ukraine. Mr. Volynets said he brought miners to Kyiv to support Ukraine's independence in 1991, and the miners supported the failed protests to oust President Leonid Kuchma in 2002. They actively supported Mr. Yushchenko in the presidential election of 2004.

Mr. Yushchenko's opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, had much support in the industrialized eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. According to Mr. Volynets, all information flows from Ukraine's democratic opposition to this area of the country were blocked, but 100 percent of Ukraine has information flowing from Russia. Because of this it was very difficult to gain supporters for Mr. Yushchenko in this part of the country.

After the run-off election in which the democratic opposition documented massive voter fraud and other election violations, Mr. Volynets argued for the protest tactics to remain peaceful. "Because I knew how to direct large groups of people," Mr. Volynets said, Mr. Yushchenko encouraged him to apply his organizational talents to the growing crowd of supporters.

"I thought we should block the entrance to the presidential administration building and the Cabinet of Ministers to give the people the feeling that we were getting stronger," Mr. Volynets said. They took over the government-controlled trade unions building on the city square and made it the control center for the protesters. "When people came from the provinces with food, clothing and blankets, we were able to tell them where the protesters from their town were located on the city square," he said.

Mr. Volynets confirmed that President Kuchma and his police officials debated using deadly force against the protesters, particularly on November 24, 2004. Mr. Volynets credited Lech Walesa, the former Polish president who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his leadership of Poland's Solidarity movement, for helping to convince Mr. Kuchma not to use weapons against the protesters.

Polish free trade unions delivered food to the protesters camped on Kyiv's main city square, Mr. Volynets noted, but most of the protesters were fed daily by donations of local stores, restaurants and factories. "The whole population of the capital city supported us," Mr. Volynets said, "I've never felt such a feeling of unity and brotherhood."

Mr. Volynets, a member of Ukraine's Parliament, said he believes that at least 57 percent of Ukraine's economy is still "a shadow economy," and that the old government's representatives and the Communist Party continue to undermine the Verkhovna Rada's efforts to reform the country. "We suppose the Communists got their money from Russia," he said, "We don't know any other way to describe their aggressive position."

Finally, Mr. Volynets said he is very concerned about the democratic opposition winning the next parliamentary elections scheduled for spring 2006 in "a free and fair way."

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