General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation was shocked by the facts of trade unions discrimination in Belarus

“There are not many places in the world where one can find slavery in XXI century,” said the union leader, Ms. Sharan Burrow.

On the meeting which was held on 15 September with Belarusian Independent Trade Unions’ leaders and activists General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) expressed her shock over the facts of exacerbating discrimination against independent trade unions of Belarus, BelaPAN.

The meeting was held as part of Ms. Sharan Burrow’s official visit to Minsk on 15-16 September. During the meeting the participants shared with Ms. Barrow the information on the situation with the rights of workers in Belarus as well as the facts of discrimination against members of the independent trade unions in state enterprises and organizations. In an interview with reporters, which took place at the end of the event, the General Secretary of the ITUC noted that prior to her arrival she was aware of the difficult situation concerning independent trade unions in Belarus, because she " has also studied it in course of work of International Labor Organization (ILO)."

"However, I was shocked by the facts of exacerbating discrimination against independent trade unions,” said Ms. Barrow, “I was surprised by the consequences of the Decree № 9, which has provisions on de-facto forced labor. I have worked in many problematic regions of the world, including the countries of Persian Gulf, where there are aggravating issues in terms of dialogue with the authorities, but even there one would hardly find this slavery in the XXI century".

General Secretary of the ITUC emphasized that "labor is not a commodity" as it means "human dignity" and "human dignity is based on the right to work, freedom of association, the implementation of the democratic freedoms which should prevail in the modern society".

At the same time Ms. Burrow was pleased to hear that the leaders of independent trade unions, who are forced "to confront the authorities and the enterprises", are interested "in building normal economic relations, developing economy of the country with the purpose of the prospective future".

The head of the ITUC stated that she will meet the Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus, Valentin Rybakov, and Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security, Igor Staravoit, on September 16. "During the meeting with them, I will try to reflect on all stories which I heard today and transmit all impressions I have obtained. […] I will try to convey to the Belarusian authorities that the workers who are union members are not the property of employers. Employers and workers should cooperate and only this can lead the country to a healthy economic development," she said.

Ms. Burrow also informed the public that ITUC will hold a seminar on conduction of collective bargaining. It will take place in Minsk in October, 2014. Furthermore, a suggestion was given to hold a regional workshop on the topic of freedom of association. It is suggested to conduct this event in Minsk in the beginning of the next year. Belarusian capital was chosen due the fact that Minsk served as a place for negotiations and settlement of Ukrainian crisis.

"We hope that by bringing together representatives of regional trade union movement from different countries to Minsk, we will be able to discuss the issue of freedom of association in the broad sense and also we will be able to change the situation on the ground. If this workshop takes place in Belarus, where there are violations in this area, it can be expected that this issue will be addressed and certain measures will be taken,” summarized the Head of the ITUC.

International Trade Union Confederation was established in 2006 by merging the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labor (WCL). The Confederation has 301 member organizations which represent 176 million workers in 155 countries.