Kemal Ӧzkan: How Can They Force Unemployed Make Payments To State Budget?

The international trade union organizations have severely criticized the Belarusian authorities.

On April 18, the joint mission of the ITUC and the Global Union IndustriAll held a press conference in Minsk. On the same day, before the press conference, a meeting was held with the representatives of the government of Belarus: the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, praca-by.info writes.

- The situation in Belarus has not improved, especially since the spring of 2017. We tracked everything connected with the decree "on parasitism": it was impossible to understand how they could force the unemployed to make payments to the national budget, as if the unemployed themselves were to blame for their troubles, " - said Kemal Ӧzkan, Deputy Secretary General of the Global Union of IndustriAll.

Kemal Ozkan also spoke in detail about the persecution of activists of the REP trade union for their trade union activities:

- In August 2017, the offices of the REP and BNP were searched, computers and personal belongings were seized, and the leaders were detained. Trade union members were interrogated by the law enforcement agencies. Until May 1, the term of the preliminary investigation was prolonged, and Henadz Fiadynich has no right to leave Belarus. Next week, Fiadynich was supposed to participate in the meeting of the Executive Committee of IndustriAll, but he does not have such an opportunity. In addition, trade union members are detained and searched inside the country.

He gave a clear unambiguous assessment to the actions of the authorities:

- This is an act of intimidation of the trade union members. We shared our concerns with the government, representatives of the ILO and the European Commission. We demand that Belarus should respect fundamental rights and freedoms. Our common requirement is to stop the persecution of union members and respect the rights enshrined in international conventions.

Kemal Ӧzkan condemned both forced labor and transfer to the contract system:

- The Decree # 3 was replaced by the Decree # 1, but the logic of the document remained the same. We demand that the government abolish Decree # 1, and also return to a permanent form of employment, renouncing the widespread use of short-term employment contracts.

In June, the International Labor Conference will be held in Geneva. Kemal Ӧzkan called on the government to return the situation to the status quo before the ILC.

- For a number of years, Belarus was mentioned in the rating of the worst countries of the world, and we did not notice improvements. On the contrary, since the spring of last year, there has been an increase in repression, " - said the Deputy Secretary-General of the ITUC Yaap Wienen.

- Forced labor is used in Belarus. The Decree #1 will become another tool of pressure on the people. This is modern slavery.

- Does the ITUC have more effective tools that can make official Minsk correct the situation?

- Tools and mechanisms have not yet led to the expected result. The ILO is one of the tools that we use to increase pressure. When diplomatic pressure does not bring what is desired, then economic channels of pressure are used, which can affect trade relations, " - Yaap Wienen replied.