KAI After the Experiment: Union Demands a Public Audit of the University’s Autonomy
4 August 20:43
Serhiy Zozulia, Chair of the Primary Trade Union Organization of Employees (PPOP) at the National University “Kyiv Aviation Institute” (KAI), Serhiy Zozulia, called for an open discussion of the results of the pilot project on university autonomy, introduced by Resolution No. 1029 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and to protect the rights of the institute’s workforce, reports "Komersant Ukrainian", citing “Interfax-Ukraine.”
“This September marks the expiration of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1029 on the implementation of a pilot project to develop the autonomy of certain higher education institutions, in which KAI was included without the consent of its staff. Therefore, we are appealing to the Ministry of Education and Science to publicly summarize the results of the pilot project at the institute, draw conclusions, and provide the public with an answer as to whether the actual consequences of this experiment comply with current Ukrainian legislation,” Zozulia said Tuesday at a press conference.
According to the head of the trade union, the urgency of this issue stems from the exclusion of the workforce from decision-making on labor and socio-economic matters: “Social dialogue between the administration and the workforce has been completely suspended; the terms of the collective bargaining agreement are not being fulfilled; the administration’s actions often contradict legal norms; and autonomy has turned into a concentration of power in the hands of a small circle of individuals.”
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At the same time, he noted that the union is not opposed to the institution’s autonomy, but insists that “true autonomy is a necessary condition for the development of modern higher education and must be based, first and foremost, on the Constitution of Ukraine and the provisions of the law.”
He also noted that on December 18, 2024, the faculty adopted the KAI charter, which includes clause 6.8 outlining the procedure for electing the university president or rector, consisting of announcing the competition, preparing for the election, and conducting the election.
“However, in August 2025, without holding a competition, as part of a pilot project, and in violation of the Law on Higher Education and the university’s charter, a candidate without an academic degree or teaching experience was elected to the position of president,” noted the head of the Trade Union.
Ihor Konoplytskyi, the unions’ attorney, stated that the KAI’s actions constituted legal violations.
“I believe that the institute’s administration’s actions exhibit all the signs of a criminal offense. In July, there was a forced eviction from the trade union’s premises, so we have several lawsuits challenging the administration’s illegal actions,” he said.
In particular, according to the attorney, the cases involve violations of the workforce’s rights and a lawsuit to protect the union’s business reputation. “A lengthy legal process lies ahead, but I hope that we will defend the rights of the faculty and emerge victorious in these legal disputes,” Konoplytsky concluded.
For his part, the union president emphasized that “the question being decided today is whether Ukrainian universities will remain spaces for academic freedom and social dialogue, or whether they will be transformed into institutions where the opinion of the faculty no longer matters.”
As previously reported, at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency in July, Zozulia alleged that the university administration was obstructing the union’s activities and illegally dismissing employees. At that time, he reported that the trade union’s activities at KAI were being obstructed, against this backdrop, the institution was carrying out unlawful dismissals of undesirable employees, the administration’s seizure on July 16 of premises allocated to the unions, and the exertion of financial pressure by failing to transfer membership dues.
For its part, the KAI administration noted that the KAI Trade Union had requested the university to transfer funds to the union’s account based on the union membership roster without obtaining individual written consent from employees for such deductions, which violates Ukrainian law, the KAI charter, and the collective bargaining agreement. KAI provided monthly statistics on the amounts of union dues transferred, according to which they increased significantly in June of this year compared to previous periods, and pointed out that they cannot demand a report on the use of these funds, however, according to them, such a report must be made public by the union so that union members can review it.
“The University regularly asks the unions to submit proposals regarding working conditions to be included in the collective bargaining agreement. The chair of the joint representative body of the unions is a member of the University’s Statutory Council, which drafted the current version of the University’s Charter. Unfortunately, to date, no proposals have been received from the PPOP regarding either the Charter, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, or issues related to employee welfare. The administration of NU KAI does not consider it appropriate to speculate on the reasons why certain university labor unions are attempting to prevent the university from obtaining national status, publicly disseminate false information regarding their funds from union dues, and attempt to provoke conflicts during the admissions campaign,” the statement read.
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