ILO Handles "Belarusian Issue" :: Charter'97 :: News

Another session of the International Labor Organization commenced in Geneva. The reason for including into the organization`s daily agenda the issue on violations of trade unions rights in Belarus was the complaint, forwarded to ILO over a year ago. The authors of the statement pointed out state interference in trade unions` rights, limitations of right for striking, enormous complexity of registration procedures and other similar problems.

"BDG" reports that since then the relations between trade unionists and officials saw no improvement. Neither visits by ILO delegations to Belarus nor rounds of consultations by officials in Geneva helped resolve the issue.

In March this year the ILO Committee for the freedom of associations confirmed the regular and systematic interference into trade unions activities and violations of their rights by the state. The country`s leadership was told to do something about it. However, says FTU deputy chair Frants Vitko, ILO recommendations aren`t fulfilled in due time. But the real attitude of the authorities toward the ILO opinion can better be illustrated by their unwillingness to send a full composition of the official delegation to the conference, owing to which Belarusians will have no voting right. Under the ILO statute the government is obliged to finance both their visit to Geneva and also the visit there by the delegation, made up of employers and employees.

The Cabinet only agreed to provide funds for the travel of three of its officials. So even if the trade unionists find their own means, the delegation won`t be considered complete anyway. ILO officials believe that it testifies to the government`s lack of interest in complying with ILO provisions.

There`s a high possibility that the conference participants will adopt a hard-line policy (so-called "special paragraph") regarding official Minsk. If so, the data on trade unions rights violations will be made known to all ILO member-states (over 170 in total), which may in their turn impose political and economic sanctions against our country. It needs mention that in the past the USA filed their complaint over Belarus and had it excluded from the general preferences system.