We welcome European Parliament resolution and reiterate that free trade unions are the cornerstone of democracy.
Belarus is the worst country in Europe for workers. There are no freedoms, no workers’ rights, no respect of dignity. Anyone at any moment and at any place can face dismissals, persecution, detention, humiliation, for any signs of what can be considered disloyalty to the regime. Independent trade unions were outlawed, more than seventy trade union leaders of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) were prosecuted, thirty of them, including BKDP President Aliaksandr Yarashuk, are still in prison. Those who served prison terms as well as those who left the country and continue trade union work from abroad are designated extremists.
This week Belarus is again in focus as the regime consolidates its grasp by implementing extension of the tenure of Lukashenko through controlled voting. Regretfully, one of the regime institutions that implements voting control, is the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus. This organisation lost any legitimacy years ago, serving Presidential Administration and the State Security Committee, not workers or the country. The only genuine voice of workers of the country is BKDP.
We urge all the European political forces to make sure the resolution includes key demands of the European and Belarusian unions:
- We call for release of all BKDP leaders and activists: trade unionism is not a crime!
- We reject controlled voting and the role of the FTUB officials in it; urge the EU to take appropriate measures against those responsible for suppressing workplace freedoms and for leading Lukashenka's so-called election campaign;
- We reinforce the decisions of the International Labour Organisation under article 33 of the ILO Constitution on Belarus and call all ILO member states to take steps for making government of Belarus respecting freedom of association.
We believe in the European future of Belarus and will continue working with political, social and civil movements that recognise and respect the role of trade unions in building democracy that delivers for workers.
Long live free democratic trade unions of Belarus!