Belaruskali Management Plans To Fire About 200 People

Lists have been made.

In January 2023, political lists of those with whom they plan to say goodbye appeared at Belaruskali. This was told to Zerkalo by several employees of the enterprise at once. According to them, there are about 200 people on the list. More than half of the 13,000-strong staff of the enterprise in 2020 supported the strike.

“They do not renew the labor contracts of the people from the lists, they don’t fire anyone abruptly, they just wait for convenient moments,” says worker Artsiom. “There are about 200 names on the list, and in August 2020, more than 7 thousand signed up for the strike. According to my observations, it is precisely those who have at least some relation to management, those who occupy offices, with whom they do not renew contracts. I have not heard that an electrician or plumber, an ordinary worker who signed for the “wrong” candidate, was very interesting for the management. After all, someone needs to do the dirty work, and now, when they also pay a penny for it, this, one might say, is a punishment in itself.

The reasons for getting on the list are different: from participating in protests to putting a signature for an alternative candidate. According to Artsiom, the contract with his girlfriend is not renewed due to the fact that during the 2020 election campaign she put a signature for Viktar Babaryka. At the same time, he notes that there are workers who not only put signatures, but also actively participated in the strike movement, and for them everything has so far been limited to talking with the leadership.

According to another worker of Belaruskali, Dzmitry, the list for dismissal for politics is mainly people whose contracts end from December 1 to May 30. However, according to him, there is also another list — it includes employees with longer contracts who are under pressure, for example, by depriving them of bonuses.

Another employee of Belaruskali, Aliaksei (not his real name), said that lists for non-renewal of contracts are not the only way to say goodbye to employees who “came to light during the protests.”

“As far as I know, such people are identified by pictures and videos. Some are not fired immediately, but everything is done extremely delicately. For example, “did not pass the knowledge test for admission to independent work”. It is held annually. In short, a minimum of emphasis on the reasons for dismissal,” explains Aliaksei.

Artsiom adds that many of Belaruskali's employees quit themselves and went abroad. The reason is the fall in salaries. So, according to the man, for 2021 he was credited with almost 35 thousand rubles of salary (on average, 2,917 rubles per month), and for 2022 — 26 thousand (2,166 rubles per month).

“For those who have time wages, earnings have not fallen so noticeably. For those who have piecework-bonus payments, the situation is worse. For example, miners have a 50% drop,” the man explains. Many have quit their jobs and gone abroad. Because the salary has fallen very much, working conditions are a disaster. People are looking for a better life. Also, many of the former colleagues work as truckers or in any other shift work, when you can earn money abroad and spend it here.

Ex-worker of the enterprise, member of the Belaruskali strike committee Dzmitry Kudzialevich explains that there is no talk of mass layoffs yet, but the key word is “yet”:

“The situation in production is really tense, and it is connected both with a significant reduction in production as a result of sanctions, and with the expectation of a potential visit of representatives of the authorities for all the same events of August 2020. After all, everyone participated. Or almost everyone. A close friend of mine was called a month ago, he was active at that time and was subsequently fired. Testimony was taken from him, but they released him with a remark, like, we will call you when necessary. It is not surprising if mass layoffs begin now.”

The “People” blog called Deputy General Director for ideological work and personnel, head of the personnel department Mikhail Sevruk to figure out the issue of layoffs at Belaruskali. However, having heard the question, he hung up.