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.

The Report of the Special UN Rapporteur Nils Muižnieks on the situation of human rights in the area of work and employment in Belarus which is to be presented at the autumn session of the UN General Assembly has been published.

In the shadow of the war in Ukraine, repression in Belarus has intensified. Trade union activists have become prime targets. Many have been imprisoned, while others have been forced to continue their work from exile. But even four years after all trade union organizations were banned, the determination to change Europe’s last dictatorship remains as strong as ever.

On May 25, at the 15th Congress of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Maksim Pazniakou, acting chair of the Belarusian Congress