On December 4–5, 2024, Sarajevo hosted a meeting of the PERC OHS experts’ network focusing on OHS issues in the countries of South-Eastern Europe and the CIS. The event brought together union experts and activists to discuss workplace safety and worker protection issues and ways to improve working conditions. One of the participants was Pavel Sakalouski, a representative of the BKDP and the former leader of the Belaruskalii workplace union organization. He gave a detailed report of the current situation of workers in Belarus.
Sakalouski highlighted the serious problem of psychological pressure at work. He said that workers were under constant control: their mobile phones would be seized, they would be checked for subscriptions to the so-called “extremist” channels, while State propaganda media would broadcast videos showing detention of workers in their workplaces. According to Pavel, this atmosphere of fear and stress has a negative effect on workers’ health and undermines their psychological wellbeing.
He also exposed blatant distortions of statistics in Belarus. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, none of the deaths of medical doctors was officially attributed to their profession which deprived their families of due compensations. Pavel stressed that such policies destroyed trust in the institutes of the State and impeded the introduction of effective measures to improve working conditions.
The topic of biological hazards, including the effects of viruses and other pathogens, triggered a special discussion at the meeting. The participants underscored the need to have international labour standards in place in order to protect workers. The situation in Belarus causes a grave concern due to the authorities’ reluctance to recognize existing risks and provide reliable data.
The meeting proved to be an important platform for pooling experiences and looking for solutions collectively. Pavel Sakalouski pointed out that international pressure and the restoration of independent trade union activities remained key prerequisites for improving the situation of workers in those countries which routinely violated their rights.
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