On April 19, a Day of Action for Trade Union Rights and Democracy in Belarus will be held to demand the release of imprisoned Belarusian trade union leaders. IndustriALL Global Union, which unites 50 million union members worldwide ,will join the awareness campaign.
Says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie:
"We demand that the Belarusian authorities immediately and unconditionally, including dropping all charges related to participation in peaceful protests and industrial actions, release the arrested trade unionists and all the human rights defenders and political prisoners, and cease the repression of independent trade unions and individuals demanding respect of their human rights."
IndustriALL will continue to publicly support the movement for independent unions and democracy in Belarus and will use our global voice to condemn the heavy oppression they face.
Join the campaign through some of the following actions:
Send letters to the Republic of Belarus and organize actions at embassies demanding access to, and release of, trade union leaders, including BKDP president, ITUC vice-president and ILO Governing Body member Aliaksandr Yarashuk.
Record a solidarity message with union leaders stating that trade unionism is not extremism, calling for freedom of association and democracy and the release of imprisoned trade unionists in Belarus. Please share your message on your channels, tagging IndustriALL so that we can re-share it.
Send letters to your national governments requesting the implementation of the ILO resolution adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2023, taking into account cultural, economic, trade, scientific and other areas of international cooperation with Belarus, seeking information on actions already taken in this regard including matters regarding non- refoulement and engagements with other UN and international bodies and demanding diplomatic efforts to get access to and release of imprisoned trade unionists.
Hold human rights due diligence meetings with employers and governments on Belarus and analyze supply chains and financial and other business services in which Belarusian enterprises are involved and take steps to exercise leverage to address violations.
Demand national representatives – tripartite partners, but also state representatives in different UN agencies, to participate in the high-level thematic meeting on Belarus prior to the ILC, as decided by the ILO Governing Body, urging Belarus to respect the recommendations of the ILO supervisory bodies and to ensure that trade unions are owned and controlled by workers and not the government.
Join the online meeting, organized by the ITUC and ETUC, on 19 April, 9.30 - 11.00 CEST, as part of the Day of Action for Trade Union Rights and Democracy in Belarus. The meeting will be in English and Russian and you can register here.
Source: industriall-union.org