Different views on situation of trade unions in Belarus to be offered at International Labor Conf.
03.06.2011 | Publications
Diametrically opposite views of the situation of trade unions and working people in general in Belarus are expected to be offered at the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s 100th International Labor Conference that began in Geneva on June 1.
According to the foreign ministry, the “official” Belarusian delegation is headed by Labor and Social Security Minister Maryana Shchotkina and includes Leanid Kozik, chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus, and Anatol Kharlap, chairman of the Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
Alyaksandr Yarashuk, chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BCDTU), arrived in Geneva as a member of the delegation of the International Trade Union Confederation.
In the opinion of the BCDTU, last year the government did not implemented the ILO’s recommendations for eliminating violations of the rights of trade unions and employees. “Moreover, members of independent trade unions continue to be subjected to intimidation and discrimination,” the BCDTU says on its website. “In particular, this can be seen at the oil refineries in Mazyr and Navapolatsk … and at the Babruysk Tractor Components and Units Plant.”
In late 2004, the ILO Commission of Inquiry adopted the 12 recommendations for the Belarusian government after considering a 200-page report compiled by a special commission formed to probe the government’s alleged interference in the activities of trade unions.
In December 2006, the European Union decided to suspend Belarus’ trade benefits under its Generalized System of Preferences as punishment for Minsk’s failure to respect independent trade unions' rights and carry out the ILO’s recommendations.
The agenda of the June 1-17 conference in Geneva includes debates on finance with a social purpose; transforming jobseekers into job creators and the right to information and consultation in the framework of economic restructuring.
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03.01
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07.10
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22.09
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17.08
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12.08
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30.09
