The Usurper Is Being Beaten On All Fronts
- 11.06.2021, 22:12
The International Labor Organization is preparing stricter measures against the Lukashenka regime.
The situation in Belarus was the subject of consideration by the Committee on the Application of Standards due to non-compliance with the ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association, which met on June 7 during the 109th session of the International Labor Conference. The decision of the Committee will be made public on June 18, writes praca-by.info.
The Committee noted the lack of meaningful progress towards full implementation of the 2004 recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry. The situation for workers and civil society has deteriorated sharply since the rigged presidential election in August 2020; repression and attacks on civil liberties and trade union rights continue.
Since August 2020, hundreds of union members and leaders have faced intimidation, repeated administrative arrests, and fines. Workers were fired for exercising their right to strike and peaceful protest; several people were sentenced to harsh prison terms for exercising these rights.
The Committee calls on the government to take steps to release all union activists who remain in detention and to drop all charges related to participation in peaceful protests and strikes, referring to the 2004 recommendation that union members, when performing their duties or exercising their civil liberties, including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, must be guaranteed adequate protection or even immunity from administrative detention.
Over the years, up to 90 percent of Belarusian workers have been transferred to short-term one-year contracts, which have been widely used to pressure workers who participated in peaceful protests; as a result, many were dismissed after August 2020.
Along with the systematic refusal to register independent trade unions, the use of short-term contracts is aimed at eliminating the presence of independent trade union leaders and activists in factories.
Since 2000, at least one hundred independent trade unions have been denied registration; during this period, only one independent trade union was registered.
On May 28, Belarus adopted regressive amendments to the Labor Code, further restricting the rights and freedoms of workers and actually introducing a ban on strikes.
IndustriALL deputy general secretary Kemal Özkan highlighted some of the many trade union rights violations against three IndustriALL affiliates: the refusal to register BNP primary organizations and prison sentences for three BNP members for the August 2020 strike; the dismissal of more than 100 SPM union members for joining a union of their choice; and police raids into the REP office.
“In light of these continuing systematic violations that deprive workers of their rights and freedoms, more stringent measures must be taken to ensure that the government of Belarus adheres to ILO Convention No. 87.”
The 109th Session of the International Labor Conference is being held online. The Committee will decide on further measures in relation to Belarus at the end of the session on 19 June.