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Striking BMZ Worker: Supporters of Change Are the Majority

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Striking BMZ Worker: Supporters of Change Are the Majority

Andrei Euseenka decided to remind about the demands of the people.

In the first days of May, an employee of the BMZ, Andrei Euseenka, joined the national strike. He told Strong News what was the trigger for such a decision, whether he was aware that he would soon be fired, and the management is unlikely to delve into the stated requirements because the plant is “out of politics.”

After the murder of Minsk resident Raman Bandarenka, in November, Andrei Euseenka seriously thought about leaving the state-owned enterprise. “It seemed like it was a point of no return,” says the resident of Zhlobin. The guy wrote a letter of resignation and took it to the master. But he asked "not to do anything rash" and wait: "after all, everything should be working out soon." And he didn't sign the document.

Time passed, and the fact that "everything should be working out" caused only greater confidence in the correctness of the plan.

Andrei calls himself an ordinary guy from Zhlobin, who, like millions of Belarusians, woke up one day in a new reality and finally understood what was what.

- I saw how people were “packed” into paddy wagons, with what hatred the security forces in our city treated their fellow countrymen. And all simply because people wanted justice. Is it normal?

Andrei himself was also detained. For participation in the rally, he was sentenced to seven days.

- I served time, but nothing has changed in consciousness, - says the resident of Zhlobin. - Like I thought it was abnormal that our rights were taken away from us before, I think so now. As I thought that the security forces treat civilians terribly, I am only more convinced of this now. What do they want to achieve with these arrests? Only if to replenish the treasury - from me alone they received 94 rubles "for food in the temporary holding facility."

According to Andrei, the management tried to "brainwash" him too.

- This is a common practice for everyone. If you are noticed making "a step to the left - a step to the right," wait for a quick meeting with the management. This is such a "factory horoscope." I stayed with the deputy general director for a short time, after 15 minutes, he kicked me out. Although I tuned in to the standard "hour and a half." He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk, asked for names and surnames. “They” want to know everything - simply who starts a video message, how “people find each other,” and why they do it all. "They" believe that no problem should seep "outside," their goal is to "strangle" it in the bud.

And then Andrei gives an example of why he is sure of the opposite: everything should be made public, people should not be afraid to speak and show the truth. He still wonders how one video, leaked “where it should,” quickly solved a problem over which his bosses racked their brains for several years.

The ceiling was leaking in the workshop. During the rains, such waterfalls began there that it was simply unrealistic to save the products. Thousands of dollars blown away. Everyone around knew about it but could do nothing. It was then that Andrei decided to test the hypothesis: he gave the problem wide publicity, and voila - a very serious conversation on the carpet of the authorities, but the roof was repaired in an instant.

Since then, the guy decided never to hush up what worries him again. He began to take part in public initiatives, did not ignore the idea of Zhlobin residents to inform the authorities of their disagreement with the political situation in the country, starred in video messages, signed collective letters of supporters of changes, supported the movement to create a primary organization of an independent trade union at the plant.

- And I saw the result. There are many supporters of change, the majority. For example, when our video message is released, when people meet us, they thank us for the courage, express their solidarity. Although, before that, they ask whether I have been fired yet.

But this story must have an end. “You perfectly understand everything,” my boss said. I was informed that the employer does not plan to renew the contract with me. And then I realized that “everything should be working out” was apparently addressed to me. That is, they hoped that over time, people would simply put up with the idea that Raman Bandarenka could not be returned, and we “needed to raise the country.” Do they really believe that Belarusians will forget everything? No, they will not forget and forgive. Never…

Andrei decided to go on strike. He could have left quietly, but he wanted to do otherwise. And explains why:

- All six years I was in good standing with the authorities. The production in our hardware workshop is complex, the load on the site is large. We tried with the guys as best they could. But lately, it has become simply impossible, they began to press "from above." Although, they say that "the plant is out of politics," but the requirements were often associated with it. Plans are plans, but dissent is more serious for them.

I am not the first to leave the brigade, I am the eighth in a row. The guys just did it quietly. And I decided to remind everyone how it all began and what the Zhlobin metallurgists wanted in the summer of 2020 and to assure that nothing has changed since then - the requirements that I wrote in my application for joining the strike are still relevant: fair elections, the release of all political prisoners, termination of repressures against civilians.

On May 5, Andrei was handed a workbook. “This is freedom from the regime,” the guy says. He made a decision that, until the power is changed, he will not return to the state-owned enterprise; the resident of Zhlobin is sure that changes are just around the corner.

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