29 March 2024, Friday, 0:38
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The Belarusian Builder: Do Not Listen to the Mess Told on BT TV Channel

The Belarusian Builder: Do Not Listen to the Mess Told on BT TV Channel

How can salaries be paid in kind in the 21st century?

It's been increasingly reported about bankrupt enterprises, workers without salaries or those who are paid in kind. Even builders now earn kopecks. One of the latest examples is Homel construction workers, who had their payments cut "to optimize costs."

Vasil Gushcha, an activist of the European Belarus civil campaign, comments on the current situation in the construction sector.

- In the mid-2000s, the builders were considered highly paid workers. How does the current situation with wages in this sphere look like?

- According to my contract, I now have a salary of Br700. But I have to work very hard. When you work overtime, there is still some chance to earn something, but this is far from "$500" promised by Lukashenka.

And even for the salary of $300-350 a month you have to spend all your time at work, leaving no time for your family or any development. And $500 is unreal. Such salary is not available for a worker in Belarus.

Now we work together with Chinese and build a fodder factory near the "Great Stone" near Minsk. They earn much in our country, we managed to talk to the Chinese workers. A Chinese crane operator earns about $3,000! Belarusians get 10 times less. At the same time, Lukashenka has loaded our country with Chinese loans under huge interest rates and our children will have to pay them back. At the same time, the Chinese will occupy our jobs.

- Are Belarusian builders often not paid?

- Such cases often happen in Russia. I was once not paid $1000. I had to come back with nothing.

- Recently, Lukashenka began to ring the alarm because of the mass departure of builders abroad. The dictator demanded to raise their salaries. Has anything changed?

- No. More and more builders are looking towards Poland. Wages we get here do not allow us to support a family. People want to live better, and as soon as there is a chance to go to Poland, they leave.

- Builders working abroad have been registered as "parasites" by the authorities. What do your colleagues think about it?

- I had to work abroad when I was captured by the government's "job cuts campaign". It was hard to leave abroad and try to earn money for my family. However, it was also hard in moral terms, because the state made me unemployed.

And many people wonder how the state can expect any contributions from the unemployed. It turns out that this government abandons its citizens who have lost their jobs...

- What do the workers say about Lukashenka and his policy? How do they assess the results of his 25-year reign?

- I think this man has done absolutely nothing for the working people and the middle class. He did not give people a chance to work and earn money on their land. He did not give a chance to be independent.

The Soviet path, which he chose, led Belarus to a dead end.

People, who are not afraid, wonder why they need Lukashenka. He has already run dry. We have already come to the moment when people are tired and they cannot stand it anymore.

How can one pay in kind in the 21st century? How can one put up with the fact that a pensioner should support children with money because the work does not allow to support the family? This situation is not normal.

- Once, Belarusian workers used to hold mass strikes, block the avenue in Minsk, held rallies in the central squares of cities. Tell me, are they capable of the same kind of protests again?

- I think that Belarusian workers will come out. But they need an impetus. One needs to tell them that salaries are paid in kind in the 21st century.

Look at the life of workers in the West and their laws. Do not listen to the mess told on BT TV channel.

One should take care of one's family. As soon as many people feel self-esteem, they will rise as it happened before.

- You intend to participate in the election campaign this fall. Why did you make that decision?

- I decided to join the 107th election district in Minsk.

As for the motives... If not me, who? I am sure that many people ask themselves this question.

The election campaign allows talking to people, to feel how our people live - from pensioners to young guys and girls. How they see the future of Belarus and how they want to live.

To tell them how they can live. Which power comes from God and which power is the opposite. How laws should look like.

Why the "telephone law" prevails in Belarus and how it breaks the lives of people.

The direction of Belarus should change for the better - the Western, European one. Not one person but all of us should change the laws.

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