Illicit mines are common in the Donbas area and bring in huge profits for the mafia-like gangs running them. In the latest accident which claimed the lives of five men hard-hitting questions need to be asked about the role of the local authorities

The State Service for Employment is predicting that in 2009 unemployment in Ukraine could be at the level of the crisis at the beginning of the 1990s

. In situations where social problems come to the fore trade union structures are oriented in the first instance to upholding the interests of the employers or of the government.

A damning report by the Accounting Chamber on how money allocated for combating corruption is being spent inefficiently and how there remains no clear anti-corruption strategy

According to the Minister of Employment and Social Policy, the sharp rise was caused by non-payments from energy enterprises and a significant reduction in sales of coke

On 28 November 2007 the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union posted on its website an appeal from the National Confederation of Trade Unions entitled: “National Confederation of Trade Unions accuses the Federation of Trade Unions of corruption”.

The Court says that the Industrial Accidents Fund is not liable since the Civil Code and Code of Labour Laws provide citizens with the right to receive moral compensation from their employer

On monitoring in one Ukrainian rural area which has highlighted a surreal situation where the nominal owners of land are effectively being deprived of their rights and sometimes of their land by the new local bosses

Each law of the sixth (present) term of the Verkhovna Rada cost the State budget 10 million UAH. It was three times less during the previous parliamentary term.

According to a survey undertaken by the Horshenin Institute, only 26.1% of Ukrainians have not paid a bribe when entering or studying in higher educational institutions

A rise in salaries in Ukraine, as well as fluctuations with the US dollar, has led to a considerable fall in the number of people seeking work abroad

On a strange “response” to a request sent to Nina Karpachova asking her to appeal to the Government to help defend the constitutional rights of victims of the recent devastating floods

Ukraine’s raiting has fallen and there are no noticeable signs that measures are being taken to fight corruption

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union has expressed concerned over the increasing trend by bodies of local self-government to take premises away from organizations working in human rights defence and the cultural sphere

At present rescue work is continuing, however there is little hope of finding the remaining 12 miners alive

The Head of the Independent Miners’ Union is adamant that the reason for the latest accident in a Donbas mine was systematic neglect of industry safety norms

The Crimean Prosecutor is demanding that the government of the autonomous republic take urgent measures to safeguard the rights of residents of the Crimea to education, medical care and freedom of movement.

The Court has declared unconstitutional the norms of the Law on the Budget for 2008 which narrow or eliminate benefits and social guarantees for the country’s citizens.

Ukraine must come to an agreement with those countries where migrants are working on the latter’s legalization, on the use of international legal opportunities for defending migrants’ rights, regardless of their status, and improving their social conditions

Specialist on labour migration believes the lack of progress in overcoming the shadow economy within Ukraine makes it impossible to protect labour rights of Ukrainians abroad