IndustriALL Leadership Meets with Belarusian Trade Union Leaders in Vilnius

Today in Vilnius, a meeting took place between IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary Atle Høie and and Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan with Belarusian trade union leaders – Henadz Fiadynich, longtime head of the Belarusian Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP), which is part of IndustriALL, and Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP).

фото - IndustriALL Global Union

Both trade union leaders were arrested in Belarus in 2022. In September of this year, they were released from prison, but immediately after their release they were unlawfully deported to Lithuania without documents or means of subsistence – a new form of repression by the Lukashenka regime.

During the meeting, the discussion focused not only on the repression they had endured, but also on the role of the international trade union movement and the future of Belarus. Participants emphasized that one day the regime will change, and the stories of trade union persecution will be crucial for rebuilding a democratic state with strong and independent trade unions.

Throughout all the years of repression, IndustriALL Global Union has consistently raised the Belarusian issue at Executive Committee meetings, congresses, and international forums. General Secretary Atle Høie reaffirmed the organization’s unwavering position:

“We will continue to do everything possible to support Belarusian trade union activists, including those who are forced to live in exile today.”

Currently, around 20 trade union leaders and activists remain imprisoned in Belarus. The international trade union movement stresses: their courage is unbroken, and their struggle for workers’ rights and democracy is not forgotten.

Read in rus and blr