Henadz Fyadynich: “Recent perturbations unnerved everyone – people have no money”

Belarusian workers are struggling from paycheck to paycheck, many of them are heavily in debt.

“Salidarnasts” has checked out the new figures by the Belarusian Statistics Committee, and found out the real situation at Belarusian enterprises concerning backdated wages.

The National Statistics Committee has informed about almost 70,000 workers, who were left without wages as of September 1. These figures seemed too high for official statistics, and too low for description of the real situation in the labour market. The chairman of the Belarusian Trade Union of Workers of Radio and Electronic Industry Henadz Fyadynich agreed to that.

- I would say honestly that I hardly believe this figure: backdated wages owed to 68,000 workers, -- the trade union leader said. – Arrears in wages are everywhere. Even major enterprises today have probably to take out loans to pay wages.

“It is possible that as usually in the run up to the elections in our country, we observe wishful thinking,” the interlocutor said.

- The truth is, this number should be multiplied by two. And considering the ongoing economic decline, I think that it is to grow with every month. According to my estimations, the greatest sums of backdated wages are observed in construction companies now.

Judging by sentiments of workers, whom our activists have been contacting recently, the trend is that the situation reminds the one during the elections in 1994, when people voted not for Lukashenka, but against Kebich. Today I see the situation when people are ready to vote not for somebody, but against Lukashenka. The recent perturbations have unnerved everyone – people have no money.

Everyone is living in debt, struggle from paycheck to paycheck,” Henadz Fyadynich summed up.