“Conference participants were shocked by testimonies of those who went through Belarusian prisons”

The Salidarnast Association held an international conference “Belarus: Trade Union Actions under Article 33” in Bremen, Germany.

The article in question is Article 33 of the ILO Constitution providing for the imposition of sanctions vis-à-vis Belarus following blatant violations of workers’ rights, including freedom of association, the persecution of independent unions, and the persistent disregard for the ILO Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations that the country has been showing for many years now.

The Conference was attended by union representatives from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, and the USA, as well as representatives of both the International and European Trade Union Confederations, and the IUF and IndustriAll Global Unions. 

One of the key topics was the situation of political prisoners in Belarus – union leaders and activists – and strategies leading to their release. Aliaksandr Yarashuk, President of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, ITUC Vice-President, and a member of the ILO Governing Body, himself a political prisoner not so long ago, was impressed by the high level of this international meeting.

Aliaksandr Yarashuk

In his interview to Salidarnast, he has pointed out the fact that the Conference was attended by 50 unionists representing national unions from different countries and major international trade union organizations, which says a lot, just by itself.

“Yet, it’s not just the number of those who take close to heart the issues of Belarusian independent unionists forced to leave the country and deeply committed to continuing their work for the benefit of Belarusian workers from abroad.

“I am proud to see how far my colleagues in the independent union movement have progressed in their development during the years of our forced separation. They’ve done a very professional, excellent job which left a deep imprint in the hearts and souls of those who have gathered for the Conference, primarily, our guests.

“For no one could remain indifferent listening to the stories of the tribulations, the real hell on earth that Belarusian political prisoners had to go through, and realizing the significance, the unique role of international trade union solidarity in their lives, contributing immensely to their survival in prison and their release.”

The Conference participants were shocked by the testimonies of those who had gone through Belarusian prisons. It was as if each delegate personally experienced the agony of their Belarusian colleagues who suffered the kind of violence, humiliation, and abuse that would seem unimaginable in the 21^st century.

And they had a clear understanding of what the remaining 19 independent unionists who still lingered in the dictatorship’s jails had to face, making their release a primary task for the international trade union community.

Maksim Pazniakou, Acting President of the Belarusian Congress of Independent Unions, believes that the Conference has shown a high level of international support in the labour movement. Talking to Salidarnast, he said that, bearing in mind the geopolitical situation in the world, Belarus had emerged as a model for the struggle to achieve freedom of association for workers.

“We observe now attempts to replace the power of the law with the law of power where a country with sufficient military potential would dictate its terms to other, weaker, countries.

“We see attempts to rebuild the existing world order in a way where the international system of law and international rules are no longer effective. And all these issues are extremely relevant and require a profound discussion in terms of what can be done to preserve the power of law, to make sure that all democratic principles and legal mechanisms retain their effectiveness and – even, maybe, after a certain reform or adjustment – remain in place as the foundation for a just and fair international order.

“And in today’s context, the effective application of Article 33 of the ILO Constitution emerges as a much broader issue than the Belarusian case per se. Because if we as the international trade union movement fail to win, we may stand to lose completely the whole system of social dialogue, international law-based regulation of labour relations, collective bargaining, etc. And everything will roll back to the past with its hyper-exploitation of human labour.

“What we see happening now is an attempt to go back to mass exploitation of humans.”

Right-wing governments do not want to see any unions around, they do not want workers to have any rights and freedoms allowing them to influence the social and economic policy both within their countries and globally. And it is these complex and important issues that were at the core of the Bremen Conference discussions.

Victoria Leontieva

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