Aleh Stakhayevich taken from work under guard (Photo)

Aleh Stakhayevich, the head of the independent trade union at Granit plant in Mikashevichy, has been fired officially.

Head of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union Mikalai Zimin supported Stakhayevich and workers expressed protest and threaten to start a strike, Radio Svaboda reports.

On February 20, Aleh Stakhayevich was shown an order for dismissal and given back his employment record. The now jobless worker says he was dismissed illegally:

“I was dismissed illegally. I was shown the order today, February 20, but has not had access to the plant since Friday. I was taken from work under guard. Even police arrived.”

Mikalai Zimin, the head of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, supports Aleh Stakhayevich. He sent a letter to acting director general of Granit plant Eduad Haurylkovich. Mikalai Zimin wrote about violations in the dismissal procedure. According to Zimin, Stakhayevich was not familiarized with the order for dismissal on time and was denied transferring to another position. Besides, the Belarusian Independent Trade Union was not informed with the dismissal. On this ground, the trade union leader demands to reinstate Aleh Stakhayevich at work.

Stakhayevich's co-workers were indignant over his dismissal. About 20 dump truck drivers refused to work on broken vehicles after the leader of the trade union branch was guarded from the plant.

A worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, was called to the general director today:

“I was called because they say I organized sabotage during the night shift. There were people in mufti, our police chief, the mayor and two other men in the office. They began to say I had organized sabotage – the Italian strike.”

The worker was warned against repeating his actions. He was told the independent trade union was a “political game”. The worker claims he did not organized the strike - it was an independent decision of dump truck drivers not to work on faulty vehicles.

Granit plant workers are waiting for a reaction of the plant authorities to their strike threat.

As a response to Aleh Stakhayevich's dismissal, 28 workers sent a letter on Monday to the plant executive officials warning about a possible strike with “full suspension of work”. The workers set their demands in the letter and promised to start a strike if they are not fulfilled. They want the management to stop the discrimination of the independent trade union, reinstate Aleh Stakhayevich at work and give an office for the independent trade union.