Why are company employees creating a union?
Over the past year, Kyivstar, the country's largest mobile operator, has replaced three heads of its press service. Later, toward the end of 2015, a Facebook initiative of former and current employees announced the creation of the company's first internal trade union. The statement stated that the reasons for this included mass layoffs of employees just days before the New Year.
One of the initiators of the union organization was former company employee Mikhail Yatsenko. In a conversation with Forbes, he explained that there were two main reasons for launching the process. The first concerns the drastic change in the company's atmosphere following the arrival of a new leader and a change in top management. "Under Litovchenko, every employee was valued and rewarded in every possible way by management, but that's no longer the case. Family celebrations, small bonuses, and pleasant gifts—all a thing of the past. Employees have become simply 'employees,'" Yatsenko notes.
The second reason is layoffs within the company. Yatsenko explains that Kyivstar began laying off staff back in 2013, but back then, it was limited to regional offices. "They laid off up to 70% of the staff, leaving only the bare minimum," he adds.
In December, we thanked several employees for their work. Each received financial support and a worthy compensation package. Petro Chernyshov, CEO of Kyivstar
Some employees were outsourced, which eliminated a number of additional administrative costs. Furthermore, the same employee received a lower salary outside the company. And in 2015, layoffs began at the mobile operator's central office. According to Forbes, up to 400 people were laid off. "People were laid off just a few days before the New Year," Yatsenko emphasizes.
Kyivstar CEO Petro Chernyshov confirmed in response to a Forbes inquiry that the company had laid off employees, but did not disclose the exact number of layoffs. "In December, we said 'thank you for your work' to several employees. We provided each one with financial support and a decent compensation package," Chernyshov assured. The layoffs were motivated by the need to optimize costs. "Unfortunately, this also applies to human resources," the company's CEO explained, adding that over the past two years, the operator has created entirely new areas of work, such as digital marketing, customer experience management, and so on.
Regarding the union's work, Yatsenko points to Kyivstar's obstruction of its activities. Chernyshov himself says the company plans to cooperate with the union within the framework of Ukrainian law. When asked to provide a breakdown of its employee numbers over the past couple of years, the company declined to respond, stating that the overall number remains "stable."
Complete "optimization"
According to one Forbes source who wished to remain anonymous, "thank you for your work" is expressed quite abruptly. "Security officials and lawyers show up at the employee's workplace unannounced, offering to sign a resignation agreement. While compensation is indeed paid in the amount of several salaries, the process itself is hardly civilized," the source emphasizes.
Kyivstar is determined to maintain its leadership. MTS-Ukraine and life:) rebranded, becoming Vodafone and lifecell. These operators also managed to connect the vast city of Kharkiv to 3G earlier, although they still trail in terms of the total number of connected cities. The company also leads in subscriber numbers, but negativity both internally and externally is growing. "A healthy atmosphere within the company is crucial. If employees are unhappy, how can they create good products?" concludes Yatsenko.
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