Aliaksandr Bukhvostau: We Need Protests, System Change

Lukashenka’s resources have been exhausted, only the protest actions can make life better now.

Chairman of the Free Trade Union of Metal Industry Workers Aliaksandr Bukhvostau has summarized the results of the year 2016 and shared the union’s plans for the upcoming year in a comment to praca-by.info:

- It was a hard year for our trade union, especially the second half. It became complicated to provide for the financing of the organization – not enough dues. We had to cut certain programs, so we failed to implement all the things we had planned.

It’s not just us who appeared in a complicated situation, but he whole independent trade unions movement. I think there’s only one trade union that looks good. The stability and the power of a trade union depend on the number of members. When there are few members, we have problems.

Yes, we have been weakened but we keep our positions. Almost 50 people joined the union this year. I am grateful to the people who are members of the Free Trade Union of Metal Industry Workers, and who keep joining us. We will struggle on despite all the difficulties.

There will still be complications in the economy, at the enterprises in 2017, so we are taking measures to improve the situation. First of all, the people should be informed about the real state of affairs. They should know that, if we change nothing, the situation will be getting worse and worse, despite the optimistic statements of the state leaders. We should explain to the people that the problem is not some enterprises working in the wrong way, but the overall industrial policy is a total failure.

We do not expect either the growth in the industry or the salaries rise in 2017.

The crisis goes on, but I just don’t see the state leaders have found the way out of it. I see neither prospects for growth in production volumes, nor the prospects of restoring the number of employees at the enterprises. There are no conditions to work efficiently in today’s Belarus.

Something must change. We also need to persuade the people to join the independent trade unions movement, to the protest actions demanding decent work and wages.