International Labor Organization to Consider Belarusian “Trade Union” Issue :: Charter'97 :: News

In late November Geneva will host a session of the Administrative Council of the International Labor Organization. One of the key issues, to be risen there, will again be the “trade union” problem in Belarus. Earlier the Committee for the freedom of associations of ILO during its March 28-29 session passed a Conclusion on the state of affairs with trade unionists rights in Belarus. In the document to the Belarusian government they propose to correct the occurring violations and to never repeat them in future. The Committee intends to watch over the fulfillment of recommendations. Consideration of the “Belarusian issue” was initiated by a range of Belarusian trade unions, which submitted to ILO a complaint, listing the cases of trade union rights violations, committed by the authorities.

A separate item in the letter were Lukashenko’s anti-trade union decrees “On some measures to put in order the activities of the political parties, professional unions and other public organizations”. For instance, one can register the trade union branch at the company not until 10% of the personnel join its ranks. ILO recommended to the Belarusian government to exclude trade unions from the Decree. Moreover, the Committee instructed the government to pass amendments into the acting legislation, as concerns the legal address of the trade union organization, in order to lift limitations in registration.

However, the Belarusian authorities did nothing to improve the situation. This became the reason why ILO blacklisted Belarus in a “special paragraph” alongside with the countries, with whom they recommend to have no trade relations, as far as they regularly and blatantly infringe on workers’ rights.

The next time the Belarusian issue will be dealt with in late November. In Geneva ILO plans to stage a trilateral meeting of the co-chairs of the National Council for labor and social issues – Vice-Premier, representative of the association of employers, as well a trade union activist, who would protect the interests of the Federation of trade unions of Belarus and of the Belarusian Congress of democratic trade unions. “Given the Vice-Premier – a co-chair of the National Council – doesn’t come to Geneva, this meeting will never take place,” – Radio Ratsya quotes head of the International department of the Federation of the Belarusian trade unions of Belarus Oleg Podolinsky as saying. The absence of meeting again demonstrates that the authorities aren’t willing to keep in their relations with trade unions to the norms, accepted in the civilized world.