Today in Vilnius, a meeting took place between IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary Atle Høie and and Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan with Belarusian trade union leaders – Henadz Fiadynich, longtime head of the Belarusian Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP), which is part of IndustriALL, and Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP).

Yesterday, when new information and footage appeared showing Ukrainian buses, I caught myself experiencing a strange clarity. Perhaps, for the first time since the first similar release of political prisoners, everything seemed to fall into place.

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, Volha Brytsikava, former leader of the primary organization of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union at OJSC Naftan, received the Human Rights Solidarity Award. The Belarusian Human Rights Association presented the award to her for her steadfastness, principles, and ongoing defense of workers' rights despite pressure and repression.

On December 6, at the Bremen Trade Union House, Salidarnast e.V. held an event as part of the international campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.” Participants included activists from Belarusian independent trade unions and their families, as well as guests from various cities – Bremen, Warsaw, Frankfurt am Main, and Hanover.

A session of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Governing Body concluded its work in Geneva; the GB discussed the situation in Belarus, among other things.

On November 24 in Helsinki, a meeting of the Baltic Sea Trade Union Network (BASTUN) was held, dedicated to issues of social, democratic, and defense security in the region. National trade union from Baltic countries, experts, and representatives of international trade unions took part in the discussion. Belarus was also represented at the event.

Michelle O’Neil, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), met with the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, during her visit to Australia. She shared news of the meeting on her Instagram page, describing Tsikhanouskaya as “an inspiring and fearless voice for a free and democratic Belarus.”

Today, Volha Brytsikava, head of the work council of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union of JSK "Naftan" (largest and most important oil refineries in Belarus), is spending her birthday in captivity.

The Acting President of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) Maksim Pazniakau and Lizaveta Merliak, a representative of the Salidarnast Association e.V., took part in the Congress of the German Mining, Chemical, and Energy Workers’ Union IG BCE which took place in Germany.

After the dissolution of independent trade unions in Belarus, the “Salidarnast” Association became the voice of workers and a platform for the idea of building a democratic society.

Aliaksandr Yarashuk, head of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), shared his experience of being held in Belarusian prisons.

Yauheni Dzenisenka, an activist with the Salidarnast Association, spoke to Salidarnast about how new technologies are shaping the labor market—and why workers need trade union support.

There were around 12 thousand people taking part in the Bremen marathon, including two of our fellow-countrymen, Pavel Sakalouski and Yauheni Dzenisenka, in the 10 km leg of the run who used the opportunity to draw attention to the issue of ongoing repressions in our country. That is why they came to the starting line wearing sweatshirt that featured the call for “Freedom to Political Prisoners in Belarus”.

On October 7-8, 2025, the Warsaw office of the Polish Metalworkers’ Union (FZZ) hosted a workshop on digitalization organized by the ITUC PERC Youth Committee. Trade union activists discussed issues related to the rapid development of the AI and its impact on the world of work.

On September 19, 2025, Amsterdam saw the International Solidarity Festival organized by the Netherland’s largest trade union, the FNV. The event brought together union activists from over 15 countries, including Surinam, India, Uganda, the USA, Kenya, Columbia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Belarus.

The political prisoner Vatslau Areshka has gone almost completely blind yet he is unable to gain disability status in prison

On 17 September, an online meeting was held between recently released former political prisoner and leader of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), Aliaksandr Yarashuk, and ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo together with Maria Helena André, Director of the ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV). The meeting was also attended by Sergeyus Glovackas, Desk Officer for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at ACTRAV.

On 16 September in Vilnius, a three-hour meeting took place between recently released Belarusian trade union leaders — Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), and Hennadz Fiadynich, former head of the Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP) — and the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luc Triangle.

In their interview to “Salidarnast”, the two union leaders speak of what was most difficult for them in jail, why other prisoners would address by their patronymics, how they managed to survive punitive isolation cells, and why the Belarusian authorities have taken their passports away.

On 11 September, 52 political prisoners were released in Belarus. Among them were two key figures of the independent trade union movement: Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), and Hennadz Fiadynich, former head of the Belarusian Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP).