Cell Phone Talks Prohibited For Shklovalakno Workers

Workers of the Polatsk-based enterprise believe that if they are punished for conversations over cell phones, it would be “stupidity.”

On November 19 Polatsk-Shklovalakno CEO Andrei Bunakou signed an order №832 “On Ban to Use Personal Mobile Phones and Tablet PCs Not For Work-Related Purposes.” He referred to Article 132 of the Labour Code, according to which in working hours workers should perform their labour duties only. Meanwhile, the Free Trade Union of Belarus attracted attention to the fact that Article 53 of the Labour Code “Workers’ Duties” does not directly ban use of phones during working hours. Moreover, there are no ban on use of mobile phones except for Traffic Rules and Air Passengers’ Rules.

Praca-by.info was told by the chairman of the primary organisation of the Free Trade Union of Polatsk-Shklovalakno Viktar Stukau how the order of the CEO is implemented at the enterprise:

– Now when I call my middle-ranking friends to their mobile phones, they answer: we are prohibited to talk, we shall call you back in the evening. At the same time, I could not say that workers are greatly disturbed by that. No one has been punished for mobile phone talks so far. The order of the CEO had been promoted on purpose (it was described in the plant newspaper, people were given the document to be briefed and acknowledge in writing that they understand, to frighten people. But whether they are to be punished is not clear, nothing is said about responsibility in the order.

There are many questions about this ban, more than a half of workers are women. They call their children in the evening shift naturally, to stay calm. A public pay telephone was installed once in one of the shops exactly for these aims (not everyone had mobile phones then). It could be understood when workers near machines are banned to talk. But when a person is to be punished for calling family members, when he had a break to smoke or visit a lavatory, and called his family, it would be stupidity.

I would like to stress another fact: our trade union does not know a single case when a mobile phone caused an injury or any other problem.