Deformations of the institution of social dialogue in Ukraine as a factor of social desolidarization
Authors:   Deputy Head of the Association of Employers’ Organizations of Ukraine, Kostrytsia Vasyl , Burlai Tetiana ,   State Institution “Institute for Economics and Forecasting, NAS of Ukraine”, Blyzniuk Viktoriia ,   State Institution “Institute for Economics and Forecasting, NAS of Ukraine”
Published: October 2024

It is shown that the effect of solidarity significantly enhances the mobilization potential of society, being applied at all levels of social organization, including the family, territorial community, and the business environment. The authors emphasize that the new social reality in Ukraine, which is being formed in the context of a full-scale Russian invasion, as well as the risk of loss of state integrity and statehood as such, determines the need to lay the basic principles of solidarity based on the coherence of actions of all subjects of social organization in the basis of the ideology of national state-building. The authors reveal the social phenomenon of solidarization as a result of reaching joint agreements and making consolidated decisions on the formation and implementation of the State socio-economic policy, which allowed establishing its close connection with the process of social dialogue. The relevance of the societal dimension of the functioning of the national system of tripartite social partnership in the context of military shocks is substantiated. Within the framework of institutional and comparative methodology, the modern role of tripartite social partnership and the impact of the institution of social dialogue in Ukraine on the processes of its social solidarity in the (pre)war period are revealed. It is proved that social dialogue plays a leading role in addressing issues related to achieving the criteria of decent work, ensuring social guarantees, promoting international labour standards, regulating non-standard forms of employment, ensuring equality in the field of labour, as well as digital and "green" transitions. It is established that the imbalance of interests of the parties to social dialogue in Ukraine is characterized by insufficient protection and lack of guarantees of decent work for employees, on the one hand, and the unmet needs of Ukrainian business for qualified and highly productive labour, on the other. It is emphasized that one of the consequences of this imbalance is the desolidating phenomenon of labour poverty. The authors identify and statistically substantiate the main deformations of the institution of social dialogue in Ukraine, which were formed in the pre-war period. On the basis of specific examples from the period of martial law in Ukraine, the contribution to social solidarity of domestic employers' associations and trade unions is shown. Considering social dialogue as an institutional component of the social contract, the article establishes that the deformed system of social dialogue in Ukraine causes the erosion of its social contract – the framework for solidarity of citizens. It is shown that maintaining a high level of solidarity among the population of Ukraine is important in the context of its official status as an EU candidate country in June 2022. The article summarizes recommendations for solving the problems of social dialogue in Ukraine in the post-war period of reconstructive recovery of the Ukrainian economy, based on modern international approaches and practices. The authors propose relevant directions for the development of tripartite social partnership, taking into account current trends in the digitalization of the economy and society, as well as the spread of new non-standard forms of employment, including platform employment.