The economic court in Dnipropetrovsk region has decided not to accept a claim of public joint-stock company ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) against the ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih primary trade union organization on declaring illegal some paragraphs of the collective agreement, reads a report in the Vmeste-Profinfo newspaper of the ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih primary trade union organization, referring to the law department of the trade union.
The report says that the ruling of the economic court in Dnipropetrovsk region says that the court decided not to accept the claim on the basis of the fact that the dispute on amending the collective agreement is not heard by economic courts.
A ruling in case No. 904/1655/13-g, a copy of which has been sent to Interfax-Ukraine, was issued on February 27, 2013.
The report says that at present the company filed an appeal against the said ruling. The hearing of the case has not yet been scheduled.
The report says that the administration of ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih tried to worsen the collective agreement. It is reminded that in February 2013, the administration of the mill flied a claim to the economic court in Dnipropetrovsk region, asking to declare illegal paragraphs 4.1 and 9.6 of the current collective agreement, which contain additional guarantees for the company’s workers regarding their employment and retaining of jobs.
Under paragraph 4.1 of the collective agreement, the owner is obliged not to allow unjustifiable reduction of workforce and make decisions, which could result in dismissal of workers under paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, only after the preliminary agreement with the primary trade unions of the enterprise. Paragraph 9.6 says that the decision to liquidate and reorganize structural divisions of the enterprise is made only after agreeing it with the trade union committee.
As reported, the ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih primary trade union organization and the trade union of metallurgists and miners of Ukraine oppose the reduction of workforce at the enterprise.
ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih specializes in long products, in particular rebar and wire rod.
In Ukraine ArcelorMittal owns the largest mining and smelting mill – ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih and some small companies, in particular, public joint-stock company ArcelorMittal Beryslav.
Mittal Steel Corporation bought a 93.02% stake in opened joint-stock company Kryvorizhstal at an open tender on October 24, 2005, for UAH 24.2 billion with the initial price of UAH 10 billion. The mill was first renamed Mittal Steel Kryviy Rih and later ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih.
According to the trade union’s committee, in 2005 when the enterprise was sold to the current owner, there were 57,921 employees at the plant. As of October 1, 2012, the number of employees was 32,333 people.
