Slavery for “young specialist”: Working without days off for 1 million rubles

Employees of enterprises in the town of Hlybokae gather at Kastyushka Square in the town centre every morning to be sent to compulsory works at Soviet-style collective farms.

The practice is forbidden by law, but used widely across Belarus.

Iryna is an accountant. The university sent her to work at an agricultural enterprise (the practice of mandatory assignment of graduates to the first job place to pay back for the education is common in Belarus), westki.info reports.

As a so called “young specialist”, Iryna receives about one million of rubles (about 100 dollars) including bonuses per month for her work.

Iryna spends half of her miserable wages on transportation, because she works far from the town.

“We work six days a week. Sometimes, one or two times a month, we have to work on Sunday. We paint walls at farms or wash tractors. But we don't receive pay for that work,” Iryna says.

The collective farm prepared a surprise for its employees in autumn: about 30% of wages will be paid in special receipts that can be exchanged for goods in a village shop. The range of goods there is poor and prices are higher than in the town.