The Spanish trade union confederation CCOO calls for the release of all imprisoned trade union activists and democracy defenders in Belarus
"We condemn the political trials against the leaders of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions and demand access to the trade union activists imprisoned in Belarus.
CCOO condemns the repression carried out against the people of Belarus, the free and independent trade union movement in the country
Like the ILO, CCOO condemns the imprisonment and repeated disregard of ILO standards by Belarus and stands in solidarity with Aliaksandr Yarashuk and all trade union activists of the BKDP.
We have serious concerns about their health, and we also demand information about these sham trials, some of which took place in complete secrecy.
We stand in solidarity with the imprisoned activists, the independent trade union movement and the people of Belarus going through this dark moment in their history, and know that they will win."
CCOO is one of the largest unions in Spain, uniting about 1 million workers. Separate "working commissions" were created clandestinely back in the 1960s by the Spanish Communist Party and Roman Catholic labor groups to fight for labor rights in Francoist Spain and against unrepresentative "vertical unions". In 1976 they united to form the trade union association that is today the CCOO.