Yarashuk: “Two global pariahs are waging a relentless war against their own workers”
Ahead of the 358th Session of the International Labour Organization, which is due to begin in Geneva on 9 November, the ILO has published a report on Belarus.
The document notes, among other things, that Minsk has provided no new information on measures taken to implement the recommendations of the ILO Commission of Inquiry and the Organisation’s supervisory bodies. The ILO Governing Body has once again urgently called on the Belarusian government to agree to an international humanitarian mission that would allow independent doctors to visit all imprisoned trade unionists, assess their health and provide medical assistance where necessary, as well as to receive an ILO tripartite mission to assess the situation. The Belarusian authorities, however, continue to refuse.
The report also states that imprisoned trade unionists should be released, charges and convictions related to legitimate trade union activity should be dropped and overturned, and confiscated passports should be returned and pensions restored to former political prisoners who were forcibly deported after their release.
In response, the Belarusian government claims that the individuals concerned were convicted of offences unrelated to trade union activity. It refuses to cooperate with the ILO Special Envoy and does not implement recommendations which it describes as politically motivated.
The report also includes information provided by the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) on political screening, interrogations and dismissals at state-owned enterprises, requirements to report to the KGB with unlocked phones, the use of polygraph tests during recruitment, and the renewal of employment contracts depending on political loyalty. It also refers to pressure on workers to join the state-controlled trade union and threats to deprive those who refuse of financial assistance for annual leave.
Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions and a member of the ILO Governing Body, told Salidarnasts that the Belarusian authorities had raised the stakes in their confrontation with the international organisation.
“The ruling regime continues to refuse to implement the recommendations of the ILO Commission of Inquiry issued in 2004 and the requirements of Article 33 of the ILO Constitution adopted in relation to Belarus in 2023, which provides for economic and other measures aimed at ensuring that the Belarusian government fulfils its international obligations regarding workers’ rights,” Yarashuk said.
“Together with Myanmar’s notorious military junta, these two global pariahs, waging a relentless war against their own workers, continue openly to defy the ILO and refuse to comply with Article 33.”
“What should be expected from the consideration of the situation in Belarus at the forthcoming meeting of the ILO Governing Body? As a member of the Governing Body, I do not think we can expect any breakthrough — in the sense that the authorities’ position might shift from a complete refusal to cooperate towards at least some steps to implement Article 33.
“So much the worse for the country. Any expectations that the ILO will change its position on this issue will prove futile. As a result, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to expect any easing of the EU sanctions regime against Belarus.
“EU countries understand that Belarus’s complicity with Russia in the military aggression against Ukraine is a product and direct continuation of the dictatorship’s internal aggression against Belarusian society — including against workers and their organisations, the trade unions.
“I am absolutely convinced that ignoring the ILO’s demands to end violations of workers’ and trade union rights will ultimately end badly for the ruling regime.”
Victoria Leontyeva
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