“Social Dialogue as an Instrument for Agreement”: The Aspen Institute Kyiv held a seminar for the National Mediation and Conciliation Service of Ukraine

On November 3, The Aspen Institute Kyiv held a seminar, “Social Dialogue as an Instrument for Agreement,” engaging the heads of regional offices of the National Mediation and Conciliation Service in a dialogue. The “Strengthening Social Protection in Ukraine” project by the Council of Europe supported the event.

The seminar participants discussed the core concepts, which are essential for social dialogue and expanding a common understanding of them, as well as the role of the National Mediation and Conciliation Service in restoring and developing the country.

In his opening remarks, Erlend Falk, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, admitted continuing support by the Council of Europe for Ukraine in close cooperation with national partners, in particular by implementing the Council of Europe “The Action Plan “Resilience, Recover and Reconstruction” for 2023-2026. “The protection of social rights is the base of democracy development in all countries, and they are even more important in times of war. The war has violated the social, economic, and labor rights of millions of Ukrainians. The seminar topic is closely related to Article 6 of the European Social Charter (revised), which refers to the right to conclude collective contracts, which is realized through establishing and realizing an appropriate mechanism of conciliation and voluntary arbitration to resolve labor disputes. Social dialogue can help settle economic and social problems affecting workers, employers, and governments”.

Dmytro Kukhniuk, Head of the National Mediation and Conciliation Service of Ukraine, highlighted the solid institutional and change-making capacity of the National Mediation and Conciliation Service and underlined its importance in Ukraine’s future recovery.

The participants discussed the following topics:

• Dialogue is an instrument for building a good society and mutual understanding.
• Opportunities for social dialogue through the prism of justice and ways to ensure it.
• Social dialogue during the war and in the period of post-war recovery.

Additionally, the participants discussed the priority areas of cooperation between the National Mediation and Conciliation Service and other public administration institutions, employers, and employees.

Denis Poltavets, Director of Program Development at the Aspen Institute Kyiv, and Roman Kobets, a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy named after H.S. Skovoroda, moderated the seminar.

Additionally: 

Social dialogue – the process of defining and approaching positions, reaching agreements, and making coordinated decisions by the sides of social dialogue representing the interests of employees, employers, executive authorities, and local governments on the formation and realization of social and economic policy, regulation of labor, social, and economic relations.

The seminar is supported by the Council of Europe project “Strengthening Social Protection in Ukraine,” which aims to ensure that vulnerable groups, including the population affected by the war, receive increased social rights and protection.