‘My Son Cries Over Payroll: Mother, I Have To Go To Russia’

People in Homel region received wages — $50.

Some five years ago, Schedrinskoye OJSC in the Zhlobin district was a normal, rather strong farm. With the help of the Development Bank, they built a new dairy farm there for 600 cows, the leadership of the farm regularly received awards for scrupulous work and ensuring high production indices, and the milkers earned BYN 1,000 per month. However, today everything has changed so you would barely recognize the farm: the wages do not reach even the minimum, the employees are fleeing wherever they can. Those who cannot leave go to the local store to buy food “with a bill of credit”. They pay off the debt after the receipt of their wages, but borrow money again. This is the way that they live, tut.by writes.

The agro town of Schedrin is located in the middle of nowhere — there are 40 kilometers of long and winding roads to the nearest district center. There are only fields around, behind which there are the same villages, without prospects and chances for a better future. The only place where one can go to work, if they are not teachers, sales assistants or postmen, is the Schedrinskoye OJSC. However, the locals do not seem to be very willing to go to work there: what is the point, they say, if they only pay a meager?

“My son comes home, holding a payroll in his hands, crying”

In the territory of the recently built agricultural complex, we are jumping over the puddles of manure, casting a glance at the clean, but not very fat cows, and listening to the sad stories of the locals.

— I have three kids, I go to work every day. How is this possible? How can we survive? — milker Tatsiana shows her payroll. The woman got BYN 102 for February.

According to the workers, they come to the farm every day, the milkers, for example, have three milking sessions per day. They say they never miss work, as all of them would long have been fired if they did. Yes, some have not many working hours, some have deductions from wages over execution writs, some have disciplinary violations — the people understand everything, they say, but they don’t understand how to live on this money.

Stockbreeder Siarhei got BYN 103. The man has 6 kids, including small ones. He says that the only hope is on the maternity allowance, they would not have survived without it.

— My son came home, holding the payroll - BYN 190. He started crying, like, mom, I cannot stand it anymore, I am leaving for Russia to work. He is 21 years old, — Sviatlana sighs.

He works at the same place, earns a little more — BYN 223. Is it real money, she says? It’s good that they sell in credit in the local kiosk.

— You come there, take food, repay debt, and get another debt straightaway.

The workers say they appealed to the administration of the farm, to the accounting department, and they were told: there’s no money, as the milk yield has dropped sixfold recently.

— They say it’s our fault. However, if a cow has no milk, where can we get it from if this animal eats only the hayage silage? Cows need food additives, concentrates every day. But the farm has no money for foodstuffs, — the people explain.

People say some quit from the farm after the last salary. Those who remained have much more work to do now.

— How is it possible to work normally after such salary? We have no desire to work, — the locals confess.

Against the background of overall despair and hopelessness, a lively young man in rubber boots stands out. As we found out, he was a young specialist. His name is Kiryl, he has worked at the farm for two days and has no claims. Minsker Kiryl is a graduate of the Vitsebsk Veterinary Academy. He got the diploma on January 30, and on March 2 he arrived to Schedrin under assignment, right from his home in Minsk.

— I’ve been looking around, figuring things out, but I already see there will be much work, — the young veterinarian delicately hinted on the condition of the farm animals.

“Milkers neglected the cows themselves”

Several years ago, things were different at the Schedrinskoye farm. It was headed by Mikalai Siarheyenka. However, at a certain point he, as the locals say, gave up and left. First to the forestry, then retired. Since then, there was a staff turnover. 5 CEOs changed at the farm only in 2019. A couple of months ago the new one was appointed - Ivan Patapenka. The attempt to talk to the current head of the farm failed - he was on a sick leave.

However, having found out there are journalists at the farm, representatives of the rural council arrived - Chairperson Tatsiana Nekrashevich and Secretary Ala Shatrava (the woman introduced herself as administrative manager). They told that two years ago farm workers received 8-9 tons of milk from 700 cows daily. Now it’s 1,5 tons. The rural council staff blame the milkers of that: they allegedly do not comply with the milking regime.

— The milkers drove the cows to such state themselves. I come in the end of the milking session, and a cow has round udder. I ask, what is the matter? “She is unmilkable”. I say, connect the milking device. The milkmaid obeys, and the cow gives 9 liters of milk more! It was a frequent situation when they did not fully milk the animals: a liter or two of milk was left in the udder. And this leads to mastitis and other problems, — Ala Shatrava explains.

“Buy us a normal master”

Mechanizers are smoking, idling, smoking again at the machinery service courtyard. Their salaries also depend on the volume of work done, they get more than the milkers and stockbreeders — they say last month they got BYN 360. However, they say, there’s no work.

— We came to work. The tire got flat — we did everything altogether, and that’s all, we are sitting there doing nothing again. If we had spare parts, we would have adjusted and set everything at all. We want to work, but we don’t have anything to work with.

— There’s good hay in the neighbouring village, it would be good to bring it here, but it’s 7 kilometers, and we have no fuel. We are in debt all around. No one lands us fuel anymore. Chief Engineer gives us money from his own pocket, hiding it from his wife, so we could buy fuel, — the mechanizers say.

But this is not the worst. The worst is that the sowing campaign is about to start, and the equipment is not ready.

— On paper, they claim 99% readiness — I read in the district newspaper, that everything is ready. Hell, it’s not ready at all!

The revelations of machine operators are interrupted by guests from the district center: in Zhlobin, too, they learned about the journalists, and deputy chairman of the district executive committee Valiantsina Niakhai, acting Chairman of the District Agriculture Department Aliaksei Mikhaltsou, and member of the Supervisory Board of Schedrinskoye OJSC Aleh Kastsenka.

— You have always repaired the equipment, last year it was in an even poorer condition, but you fixed it! Why are you raising this issue now? You can do everything! — the representative of the local authorities is trying to pacify the mechanizers.

— We can, but with what? — the men interrupt her with a coordinated chorus. — See the tractor over there — it needs service, but there’s no money! There’s another tractor — it’s all naked, we need two barrels of oil for it, but there is none, and tomorrow you will tell me: “Go buy the motor, it was you who killed the tractor!”

Mechanizer Ihar Maratavich lis leading us to his sower: “Normally, I have all my machines ready since winter, but now the sower is standing here like a coffin. I ordered the necessary spare parts: drill seed tubes, gouters, six wheels, bearings, and in the end they delivered just three wheels and 28 scrapers. And what am I supposed to do?”

— We will sow everything, harvest everything, everything’s gonna be alright. Your farm hasn’t failed a single sowing or harvesting campaign. We will buy you everything you need, — representatives of the district executive committee are trying to pacify the locals.

— You better buy us a normal master. We will make a private property here, and will work normally, — the men sigh, lighting up cigarettes.

“If there is no bonus, there’s a reason not to pay it”

Aleh Kastsenka, member of the supervisory board of Schedrinskoye OJSC, explains: in an economy where about 90 people work, the average annual salary is about 500 rubles. In winter, salaries of machine operators, for example, are traditionally lower than in summer; milkers are paid depending on the milk production, which also depends on the season.

— This week we again met with the team, people asked questions and received answers. We explained to them that the salary on the farm is tied to the volume of production, and milk yield fell several times at Schedrinskoye. Once the farm got 10 tons of milk and sold it, but now it’s 1,5 tons. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to raise production volumes. For this, first of all, it is necessary to increase production discipline. And here a lot depends on the milkers, although a lot depends on the quality of feeding. The issue is under control in the district executive committee. We think they will help with this. I repeat, the farm is not abandoned, we regularly meet with people.

— Yes, but you can’t put these meetings in your wallet. Some workers have a salary of 100 rubles. Why is there no bonus at least to the minimum (from January 1, 2020, the minimum salary in the country is 375 rubles)?

— If there is no bonus, then there is reason to not pay it. So, there were violations of labor discipline. I know for sure that there are such facts, and they are not just individual cases.

The employer is obliged to apply the minimum wage (monthly and hourly) as the lower limit of remuneration of workers for work under normal conditions during the normal length of working time when fulfilling the duties of an employee arising from legislation, local regulatory legal acts, and an employment contract. In this case, the minimum wage (monthly and hourly) is applied taking into account the working hours completed.