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Aliaksandr Yarashuk: The Situation With Trade Unions Remains

Aliaksandr Yarashuk: The Situation With Trade Unions Remains
PHOTO FROM VALERY-BREST-BY.LIVEJOURNAL.COM

Belarus is drifting to the compulsory labour.

On May 1 Belarus, like many other countries, celebrates the International Workers' Day.

This year the Orthodox Easter falls on May 1, the largest Trade Unions in the country - Belarus' Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) and the Belarusian Congress of Independent Trade Unions (BCITU) - decided not to take protest actions and demonstrations.

The day before the Labour Day the BFTU published information about the defense of rights of illegally fired citizens and failure to pay wages. It is informed that in 2015 the legal inspection of labour revealed 41.5 thousand violations of the Labour Code, 560 employers were held liable. Almost all violations were repaired. Employees got Br55.5 billion back that were illegally kept back or not paid. 76 illegally fired employers has their work, the pro-government BFTU informs.

Meantime, according to the BCITU, the situation did not improve in general. "Moreover, it even deteriorated," Aliaksandr Yarashuk, the Chairman of the BCITU, shared the information with BelaPAN. He reminded that in 2015 were adopted Decree No. 3 "On Prevention of Social Dependency", and No. 5 "On Requirement Enhancement for Managing Staff and Employees". Together with Decree No. 29, which enhanced the system of compulsory labour agreements, they dramatically deteriorated the labour conditions in Belarus and made "the country drift to compulsory labour."

"We think that there is no progress in everything that regards Trade Unions, Yarashuk notes. - We still cannot develop, create new organizations, take protest actions. Our members are still put pressure on, using levers of employment agreement, people are being dismissed. This is how we welcome May."

The International Workers' Day was adopted by the first congress of the Second International in July, 1889 to commemorate the Haymarket affair, Chicago. During the protest action an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of several police officers and a few civilians. Eight anarchists were arrested; four of them were later hanged. The International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day, is officially celebrated in more than 140 countries.

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