Workers ready for strike

The concern Belneftekhim acknowledged there is a collective labour dispute on the joint venture Polotsk-Steklovolokno between the administration and Belarus Free Trade Union (SPB). But it didn’t intervene in the situation. The Free Trade Union says it is ready to begin preparation for a strike to defend the interests of its members.

“The acting on the enterprise collective contract is to extend to “employers and all workers if the joint venture,” as it is said in the preliminary. But the clause 5.8 says “dissolution of the labour contract with an employee, who is a member of the Belneftekhim Trade Union, on the initiative of employer is possible on prior consent of the trade union committee.” The members of the Free Trade Union have no such guarantees. It is a conflict of laws the result of which being discrimination of some people,” Viktar Stukau, head of the shop-floor SPB organisation, commented the events to the site BulletinОnline.

According to him, for a long time head of the shop-floor SPB organisation has been negotiating with the employer on signing contract, which would dispose this discrimination and provide for guarantees of the SPB activity on the enterprise, which the members of the SPB do not have now. “But the administration refused to sign not only a contrast, but also a final document of the negotiations - discrepancy report. We don’t want to aggravate the situation on the enterprise and immediately began the preparation for a well-known means of solving collective labour dispute – a strike. Though we have a right for it. But we appealed to the concern with the suggestion to enjoin the administration prudence,” Viktar Stukau stressed.

But the concern chose a position of non-interference, and didn’t pay attention to violation of laws on the subordinate enterprise, having referred to the statute of the concern, according to which subordinate enterprise take all inner decision independently.

“According to the clause 3 of the concern’s statute, organisations, parts of the concern Belneftekhim, are independent and have rights of juridical persons. The concern Belneftekhim is not liable for organisations in its structure, and the organisations are not liable for the concern. So, the concern may not break one of the principles of the social partnership – equality of the parties by means of influence the administration of Polotsk-Steklovolokno,” A. Kamiak, deputy chairman of the concern, said in his answer.

But the SPB members have a different point of view: the concern would demonstrate social partnership by returning the administration of the enterprise in legal framework, but it divested itself of this power.

The Free Trade Union if going to appeal to prosecutor’s office to find the justice.