PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF UKRAINIAN LABOR MIGRANTS IN EUROPE

Abstract

Background. Citizens of Ukraine are one of the largest groups of seasonal workers in the European Union. At the same time, Ukrainian migrant workers often suffer violations of their rights abroad. In this aspect, Ukraine has an urgent task to protect the rights of Ukrainian seasonal migrant workers abroad. For European Union, despite the economic crisis that has led to higher unemployment, there is an urgent need for seasonal workers in the EU Member States, due to the fact that seasonal work is generally not attractive for the EU labor market. The aim of the article is to determine the features of protection of the rights of Ukrainian seasonal migrant workers in the European Union. Materials and methods. The research is carried out on the basis of general and special research methods, in particular, such as: discourse and content analysis, system analysis method, induction and deduction method, historical-legal method, formal-legal method, comparative-legal method, and others. Results. Seasonal work is one of the types of temporary employment, which is limited to a certain period of time. In the European Union, seasonal work is not attractive to citizens of the European Union. In this regard, it should be noted that the Member States of the European Union have a long practice of attracting seasonal migrant workers to their labor market, which was especially intensified in the post-war period, characterized by labor shortages on the European continent, which led to this policy development. Today, with the onset of the global pandemic COVID-19 and the starting of lockdown, the European Union still needs seasonal migrant workers, especially in the agricultural sector, to perform seasonal work. In this area, the EU has developed supranational legislation, which was analyzed in the article. Conclusion. Given that Ukrainians are one of the largest groups of seasonal workers in the European Union, it is important for Ukraine to protect its citizens abroad, which, in particular, can be strengthened by signing bilateral agreements with EU Member States on employment and social protection of Ukrainian citizens; agreements on mutual employment of employees; agreementson employment and cooperation in the field of labor migration, etc. Keywords: labor migration; seasonal migration; the right to equal treatment; Seasonal Workers Directive; bilateral agreements on labor migration.