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Polatsk Workers Seek the Right to Strike

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Polatsk Workers Seek the Right to Strike

Workers of the Steklovolokno plant reached the Supreme Court.

The primary organization of the Free Trade Union of the Belarusian (FTUB) workers of OAO Polotsk-Steklovolokno appealed the decision of the Vitsebsk regional court on recognition of the strike as "illegal." Employees of the enterprise - members of the FTUB did not accept the decision and filed a writ of appeal to the Supreme Court, vitebskspring.org informs.

The administration of the plant and the association of workers in the Free Trade Union hold constant and systematic counteraction. And it has even become more severe under current director Mikalai Bunakou. Employees of the enterprise - members of the Free Trade Union- are not allowed a promotion, an adjacent specialty. Their dismissal does not provide for the consent of the Trade Union, unlike members of another loyal employer, Belkhimprofsoyuz. This is a violation of both the Belarusian legislation and the International Labor Organization Convention.

For a long time, the employer refuses to negotiate with the FTUB referring to the Trade Union's refusal to give him lists of members of its organization. Workers decided to start a strike requiring to stop discrimination. The strike should have begun on November 1 and continued until the end of December.

However, the director of the plant sent a statement to the court demanding to recognize the strike as "illegal." And the relevant decision was issued on October 26 by the judge of the Vitsebsk Regional Court, <>Natallia Khilkevich.

The interests of the Trade Union members were represented by Mikalai Sharakh. He said that the court violated the rules of substantive law. During the action proceedings, the reasons that caused the strike were also not fully investigated. No private definitions were given regarding the violation of the labor code by the employer and discriminatory clauses in the collective agreement.

The chairman of the FTUB at OJSC Polotsk-Steklovolokno Viktar Stukau said:

- Our Trade Union will not provide the employer with lists of our members, while there is discrimination at the enterprise. And we do not consider this position a violation of the law. Workers of the plant from our Union offered and now offer negotiations on amendments to the collective agreement to eliminate discrimination. Before the announcement of the strike, our Union addressed various state bodies - the Prosecutor's Office, the Labor Protection Department, the Ministry of Labor, the industrial concern. However, none of the appeals yielded results. The ban on strike only confirms that the state bothers activities of independent democratic Trade Unions. The Trade Union appealed against the decision. And, if no result is gained, we propose to the workers of the plant to carry out the procedure for preparing and holding the strike again.

The position of the old Soviet Trade Union is indicative: at the meeting of the regional court the chairman of the factory primary unit of the Belkhimprofsoyuz Tatsyana Hurava spoke on the side of the employer. By such actions the Belkhimprofsoyuz contributes to a split in actions of the workers aimed at improvement of their working conditions at the plant, an activist of the Free Trade Union of Belarus said.

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