Kozik Distorts Outcomes of Meeting with Russia’s Trade Unionists :: Charter'97 :: News

On February 18 in Smolensk there took place a meeting of delegations of the Federation of independent trade unions of Russia and Federation of trade unions of Belarus. They raised the issues of bilateral relations, the treaty on cooperation, the work between the Coordination councils of FITUR and FTU and other forms of cooperation, along with the membership in international trade union organizations and relations with the International Labor Organization.

The FTU chair Leonid Kozik addressed his Russian colleagues, representing Russian trade unions in ILO’s administrative council, with a request to solve problems, linked with the Belarusian trade unions’ complaint to ILO. Russians responded him by saying that this will become possible not until they eradicate all violations of trade unions’ rights in Belarus.

A concomitant press-release has been circulated by the FTU press-center. However, a lot there doesn’t correspond to reality. Especially this has to do with the expression that “the whole sphere of social-economic relations in the Republic of Belarus, touching upon the rights and interests of the workers, must be under FTU’s control.”