Apart from the full payment of wage arrears and compensation to the workers for the delayed wages, the unions raised a number of important demands:
- Increase minimum wage as of 1 July in order to reach the actual living wage, which is twice as high as the official calculation
- Carry out wage indexation until 1 July 2015 according to the inflation rates in 2014-2015
- Prevent the adoption of unconstitutional laws that limit the rights and freedoms of the Ukrainian citizens
- Restore the social rights and guarantees of workers, retirees and Chernobyl veterans as of 1 January 2016, which were suspended or cancelled in 2015
- Ensure reliable state control over legal compliance in labour relations, and firm measures on overcoming illegal employment and "shadow" pay
- Carry out effective social dialogue.
On 27 April the Joint Representative Body of Ukrainian Trade Unions decided at a meeting to enter into a collective labour dispute at a national level with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Joint Representative Body of the Employers. The government has previously avoided solving workers' social and economic problems with social dialogue. Instead unions' demands have been ignored, resulting in a national collective labour dispute.
Several IndustriALL Global Union affiliates participated in the picket.
The picket on 27 May was in support of the demands, and several IndustriALL Global Union affiliates participated. The next pickets are scheduled for 3 and 10 June.