“We Immediately Agreed To Organize Protest On Next Day”

Where did the villagers’ strike in Homel region start?

On Tuesday, workers of the Nekrashynski agricultural enterprise went on strike to protest against the dismissal of their leader. Vasil Lakhanski has been heading the local economy in the village of Valasovichy, Kastrychnitski district in Homel region, for almost 20 years. The chairman has been keeping the collective farm at a good level, Nekrashynski is one of the advanced farms in the region. The employees are pleased with the director. Therefore, when news got about that Lakhanski was supposed to get dismissed, almost the entire collective rally to his defense, kp.by reports.

– At the evening milking, we were privately told that the director would be fired. We immediately agreed to organize protest the next day. Early in the morning, we milked, fed the cattle, and then we gathered — milkmaids and tractor drivers. We wanted the Kastrychnitski authorities to come to us and explain: who decided to dismiss the director and why? – milkmaid Valiantsina says.

The reaction followed quickly: the authorities really soon arrived:

– The told us that we had made a fuss, and left. And then representatives of district and regional trade unions arrived. They said that it had been decided not to dismiss the director at the level of the governor.

The first deputy chairman of the district executive committee, Ryhor Harbar, confirmed to Komsomolskaya Pravda that Lakhanski would stay at work. However, he did not want to answer the question why they had been going to dismiss the director:

– Eventually, all the problems have worked themselves out, the people are back to work, there was a small misunderstanding, but everything got settled.

The milkmaids explained why they stuck up for their boss:

– He keeps the economy afloat, there are very few such strong collective farms. He builds new sheds, creates jobs. People from other villages are coming to work here. And we are migrants as well, because there was a weak economy in our village. And here they gave housing, and the salary is 500 rubles, and some of us get 800. And the treatment is humane, and help! Therefore, we are for our director.

After Lakhanski was left in office, the milkmaids and machine operators went back to work. But they fear that the authorities may soon dismiss the director anyway, especially since his contract ends soon.

By the way, the other day the director will celebrate the 64th anniversary:

– After all that happened, he said that our support is more important to him than the order for his services that he got last year, – the employees add.