Representatives of Belarusian trade unions took part in IG BCE Congress

The Acting President of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) Maksim Pazniakau and Lizaveta Merliak, a representative of the Salidarnast Association e.V., took part in the Congress of the German Mining, Chemical, and Energy Workers’ Union IG BCE which took place in Germany.

The Congress re-elected Michael Vassiliadis President of the Union, as well as the Secretariat officers. The event was attended by leading representatives of the Global and European Trade Union Federations, including Kemal Ozkan, Assistant General Secretary of the IndustriALL Global Union, and representatives of the Norwegian union Styrke who emphasized the importance of international solidarity, in particular, the support of Ukraine. The situation of human rights in our country has also been mentioned.

Particular interest was triggered by the international workshop on Corporate Due Diligence jointly organized by the IG BCE and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).

The organizers presented a new project, a Virtual Consultation Center designed to facilitate the submission of complaints concerning violations of workers’ rights in the supply chains of German companies including their foreign subsidiaries. The mechanism will become an important tool for workers, including those in Belarus, whose rights are violated in the course of cooperation with German companies.

As an example, the workshop participants discussed the experience of Kenyan unions who won union recognition at a Volkswagen subsidiary in the country though the use of similar legislation.

Other Congress themes included the development of Artificial Intelligence and the need for human oversight of the AI, as well as the new energy policy. Special attention was accorded to the issues of energy cost and availability for the chemical industry which have a direct bearing on safeguarding jobs in the sector.

Norwegian unions shared their experience in the introduction of ecologically safe carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, arousing a keen interest among their German colleagues. IG BCE is actively promoting these solutions within their discussions on “green transition” with the Government.

The participation of the Belarusian TU center in the Congress has proved to be a valuable opportunity to reinforce international ties, exchange experiences, and present the Belarusian independent trade unions’ position in the context of global challenges.

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