This article deals with the issue of criminal law protection of the possibility of associating in trade unions, regulated in the Act on Trade Unions. First, the importance of the freedom to form a trade union and the right to join it was noted. Successively, behaviors that violate the sanctioned norms protecting these values were identified, and then other elements of the structure of the crime — that condition criminal liability for violation of these rights were analyzed. Finally, existence and the scope of this protection was assessed taking into account the importance of these values for the protection of workers' rights, and de lege ferenda conclusions were put forward in this context.