Aliaksandr Yarashuk On Lukashenka's Offer: We Will Have Fun Watching All This

His latest offer related to trade unions was a profanation.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka's demand to establish trade union organizations at all private enterprises by the end of the year under the threat of liquidation is illegal. This opinion was expressed in the commentary to naviny.by by Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions Aliaksandr Yarashuk.

“Let him try to liquidate them, we'll see what happens,” he said. "It's completely illegal. Trade unions are public organizations. Nobody can force or coerce anyone to create a public organization, especially when it comes to the private sector."

"A trade union is always created from below by the free will of workers, not business. Business creates trade unions only if it needs "yellow unions" (workers' organizations run by the employer are not a form of independent trade unions and are prohibited by the Convention of the International Labor Organization # 98 - edit.), So that real ones do not arise, which can be a counterbalance and with which it is not so easy to build a dialogue," added Yarashuk.

According to him, even at state-owned enterprises "no one has the right to force anyone to form trade unions," since the workers "should decide it themselves, voluntarily."

The trade union leader noted that the implementation of a similar order by Lukashenka in 2015 "turned into profanation." "At that time, Prime Minister Andrei Kabiakou was instructed to create trade unions in the private sector of the economy within a year and a half," he recalled. "We know how it was: the owner of a business, a firm, a company was faced with the fact that it was necessary to create a trade union. He called some employee and said, you will be the chairman of the trade union, they refused, he insisted - this is necessary. After this, there can be no serious talk that it was a real trade union was possible."

"So it was at the best of times, when the regime controlled the situation in the country. As for the present moment, they need to think not about how to create trade unions in the private sector of the economy, but how to ensure the regime's own survival, which is an insoluble task. If he thinks that now this is a priority task, gives instructions and threatens to close enterprises, let him do it, and we will have fun watching all this," Yarashuk concluded.

Article 2 of the Law "On Trade Unions" establishes the right of citizens of Belarus "to voluntarily form trade unions of their choice, as well as to join trade unions, subject to their statutes." Article 4 of the same law states that "belonging or non-membership of citizens in trade unions does not entail any restrictions on their labor, socio-economic, political, personal rights and freedoms guaranteed by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus".

On November 10, Lukashenka, at a meeting with Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus Mikhail Orda, said that private enterprises, which by the end of this year will not establish trade union organizations, will be liquidated.