Leadership of one of Kyiv Aviation Institute’s trade unions claim administration obstructing it, while Institute claims on speculations on their part
Head of the primary trade union organization (PTUO) of the National University Kyiv Aviation Institute (KAI), Serhiy Zozulia, claims that the university administration is obstructing the organization's activities and illegally dismissing workers.
"The KAI is obstructing the trade union's activities, which has led to the illegal dismissal of undesirable employees, the seizure of premises allocated to the trade unions by the administration on July 16, and financial pressure through the non-payment of membership dues," Zozulia said Monday at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency's press center entitled "Obstruction of the legitimate activities of trade unions by the KAI administration."
He also noted that trade unions have been excluded from all processes taking place at the university. "The collective agreement is not being implemented, and the administration is hindering the unions' activities," the head of the PTUO said.
According to him, two KAI trade unions have registered labor disputes, but the conflict is only escalating. "The university administration denies the existence of a labor dispute, that is, a conflict, and is pressuring both primary trade union organizations, forcibly evicting them from their premises," Zozulia added.
He also cited statistics on Ukrainian citizen admissions to KAI (formerly NAU) in recent years, which show a significant decline. Specifically, while 4,185 students were admitted to undergraduate programs and 1,377 to master's programs in 2021, the numbers were 3,242 and 1,902 in 2023, respectively, and only 1,350 and 965 in 2025, respectively.
Trade union lawyer Ihor Konoplytsky confirmed the existence of several lawsuits challenging the illegal actions of the KAI administration. "They relate to the failure to pay membership dues, the decision to adopt a new version of the charter, and several labor disputes related to illegal dismissals... I believe these cases will be won, and the rights of the trade union representing the interests of the KAI workforce will be restored," he emphasized.
In turn, the KAI administration notes that the KAI’s PTUO contacted the university with a request to transfer funds to the trade union account based on the union's membership register without providing employees' personal statements of consent to such deductions, which is contrary to Ukrainian law, the KAI Charter, and the collective agreement. "Based on the union's claim, case No. 910/5893/26 was heard in the Kyiv Commercial Court to recover UAH 644.6 from KAI in favor of the trade union. The court dismissed the claim. Based on personal statements from KAI members, UAH 2.6 more than two and a half million hryvnias, were transferred to the KAI account between October 2025 and June 2026," the university's website says.
The KAI cited monthly statistics on the transferred amounts of union dues, according to which they increased significantly in June of this year compared to previous periods, and noted that they cannot demand a report on the use of these funds; however, according to them, such a report should be made public by the union for familiarization with it by union members.
It was also reported that the trade union did indeed contact the National Mediation and Conciliation Service in Kyiv with information about a collective labor dispute. "The appeal concerns the university administration's failure to comply with the collective agreement, but no facts of collective agreement violations are cited. The university administration contacted the Service with a request to cancel the registration of the collective labor dispute between the trade union and KAI. At this time, neither meetings of the Service have been held, nor the issue has been considered, and nor KAI has received any complaints from other government agencies regarding the failure to comply with the collective agreement," the statement reads.
Furthermore, it is noted that the PTUO filed three more lawsuits against the university, seeking to have its registration as a national university declared illegal, contrary to the relevant decree of the President of Ukraine. However, the Kyiv District Administrative Court dismissed two of these lawsuits, and the Solomyansky District Court rejected a motion to prevent the holding of the workers' Conference. The merits of the case are still being considered, but this does not affect the registration of the Charter or the confirmation of the university's national status.
"The university regularly requests trade unions to submit proposals regarding working conditions and the collective agreement. The head of the joint trade union representative body is a member of the university's statutory council, which drafted the current version of the university charter. Unfortunately, to date, the PTUO has not submitted any proposals regarding the charter, the collective agreement, or employee welfare. The administration of KAI does not consider it appropriate to speculate on the reasons why individual university unions are attempting to prevent the university from receiving national status, publishing false information about their funds from trade union dues, and attempting to provoke conflicts during the admissions campaign," the statement reads.