The FPB is increasingly becoming an ideological arm of the authorities
The pro-government Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FPB), already firmly integrated into the state system, is increasingly turning into an ideological structure far removed from its original purpose. It is no longer even making much effort to conceal this formally. Siarhei Antusevich, Deputy Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), comments on the FPB’s growing activity on the ideological front.
Ahead of the so-called Day of National Unity, introduced by the regime five years ago, the trade union representing housing and communal services and the service sector held a meeting with first-year students at the Brest State College of Services. The theme was described as “a discussion on historical memory, sovereignty and continuity between generations”.
Apparently, the authorities decided that their “work” with young people should periodically be reinforced with the help of those who have long been subordinate to the state and are ready to carry out whatever instructions they are given. Ahead of 17 September, the chair of the sectoral trade union, Yury Darahakupets, travelled to Brest to tell students how difficult life had been in Western Belarus under Polish rule a century ago.
Commenting to Salidarnast on the remarkable transformation of the FPB’s activities, Siarhei Antusevich, Deputy Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, said that a trade union should make use of every opportunity to engage with young people.
“If my colleagues and I were in the place of Lukashenka’s pocket unions, we would go too. But the real question is what you talk to young people about.
“If such meetings taught young people what to look out for when starting a job, when signing an employment contract, what rights they have, how a trade union can help them, and what a trade union actually is, that would make sense — because these are the tasks of genuine trade unions.
“But under Lukashenka’s regime, the FPB has turned into yet another ideological assistant to the authorities. Although there is hardly anything surprising about that — the ruler himself called it the country’s biggest party, so now they are doing party-political work.
“What worries me is that another stereotype may now be added to the old Soviet-era image of trade unions as organisations that hand out holiday vouchers and New Year presents — a stereotype that we, as independent trade unions, tried to overcome, but which unfortunately still remains.
“For some people, today’s pro-government trade unions are a way of moving up the career ladder. For others, they are a kind of ‘ghetto’ into which people are herded to have their brains washed.”
Viktoryia Liavotsieva
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