This week the delegates of the International Labour Conference will analyze the situation with observance of trade union rights in our country. Their opinion will affect in particular the European Union's decision to return trade preferences to Belarus. However, the independent trade unions state absence of any progress in eliminating violations of Belarusian workers' rights. It is confirmed by the facts sent to the International Labour Organization.

1. Yuri Loban, an Activist of the Belarusian Radio and Electronic Workers' Union (REP), was dismissed by the administration of his "BelAZ" Plant upon termination of his 5-year-long labour contract. During his work in the position of the loaders' foreman at the plant Yuri Loban had never violated the labour discipline and was noted with a certificate of gratitude of the plant directorate for high quality of his work. The activist was dismissed despite protests of his team and shop colleagues. His position was not subject to elimination, and another worker was soon recruited to take it.

On November 24, 2009, activists of the REP Trade Union organized, in the city of Zhodino, where the "BelAZ" Plant is located, a solidarity action in support of the dismissed worker, under which they planned to collect signatures in defence of Yuri Loban and disseminate information materials. The action under the motto "Hands off Yuri Loban!" was roughly interrupted by militiamen. The information materials were confiscated, and the participants of the action were detained and brought to the police station.

Yuri Loban was summoned to the police station, where he was officially warned about his responsibility for organization and participation in non-sanctioned pickets and rallies. The worker's question about possible sanctions was answered by Sergey Sivets, deputy head of the Zhodino GOVD (City Interior Department): "We'll imprison you at once."

2. On May 18, employees of law enforcement bodies made prejudiced and illegal detentions and searches of the apartments of activists of the REP Trade Union and of the office of the Brest representative office of the union. In total, eight activists of the union suffered. As a result of the searches, the members of the trade union were illegally deprived of their documents, personal things, money, including the sum taken away right from a purse, computer system units and notebook computers, which belonged to them as their property and were used for the needs of their organization.

The office and the safe inside of the representative office of the REP Trade Union for the Brest region were opened by militiamen without notification and presence of the responsible person. Apart from the office equipment, the trade-union bulletins "Zavodskaya Prokhodnaya" (Factory Checkpoint) and the seal of the registered trade-union organization of the "Tsvetotron" Brest-based factory – a member of the REP Trade Union – were confiscated.

The office was sealed up, and for two days its staff workers could not get in. The work of the trade union in the region was practically paralysed. Until now, the confiscated documents and equipment have not been returned.

3. The administration of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Belaruskabel" notified engineer Vladimir Telepun, an activist of the REP Trade Union, that as of July 1, 2010, his labour contract will not be prolonged. His union colleagues are sure that the dismissal of the highly skilled specialist was caused by his trade-union activities. Vladimir Telepun has been working at the Mozyr factory of the OJSC "Belaruskabel" for more than 30 years. The 54-year-old worker took part in liquidating the consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident; he has three children. During his work he had no remarks or sanctions from the administration.

4. Authorities are still refusing to register the Vitebsk, Mogilyov and Gomel city organizations of the REP Trade Union.

5. In February 2010, four members of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) filed applications about facts of their discrimination based on their membership in the independent trade union. Their shop bosses, by threatening the workers and their children, who also work at the "Grodno Azot" Factory, to deprive them of bonuses and dismiss them, forced the activists to quit the BNP. On the basis of these facts, the trade union addressed the Prosecutor's Office of the Oktiabrskiy District of the city of Grodno. However, the infringers of labour rights were just invited to an explanatory conversation. The BNP activists insist that the Prosecutor's Office take measures and react to illegal actions of shop bosses. So far, the achievement of the trade union is that the Prosecutor's Office listened to the dissatisfied party.

6. The administration of the OJSC "Naftan" continues to exert pressure on the members of the primary organization of the Belarus Independent Trade Union (BNP). Alexander Nasedkin, a worker of Shop No. 8 of the OJSC "Naftan", one month after joining the independent trade union was forced to file an application of exit from the union organization. The reason was in the threat of dismissal and blackmail exercised by Mr Evtushek, head of his shop. The appeal of the trade union to Director General demanding to check the fact and to bring those guilty to responsibility caused no reaction.

7. On January 21, 2010, Yuri Shvets, chairman of the primary organization of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) at the OJSC "Mozyr NPZ", and two other employees of the trade union could not get to their work. Their passes to the territory of the enterprise were blocked. The administration had equated the trade union to an alien organization and demanded that the trade-union activists exchange their permanent passes for temporary ones. Yuri Shvets filed an application to the Prosecutor's Office of the city of Mozyr about illegal restriction of access of members of his organization to their workplaces.

8. Alexei Gabriel, Chairman of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Lukoml GRES (State District Power Plant), was dismissed after expiry of his labour contract on September 30, 2009. Director of the enterprise G. Korolyov said when talking to Mr Gabriel about the reasons of contract termination that "your issue is solved: you've been too active." The dismissal of the trade-union leader was the consequence of the two-year-long struggle of the trade union for the right to participate in collective bargaining with the employer and conclude the collective agreement. The Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), trying to defend Alexei Gabriel, filed a suit on elimination of discrimination in the sphere of labour relations on the basis of membership in the trade union. The Chashniki District Court of the Vitebsk Region satisfied the claim and obliged the employer to extend the labour contract with Gabriel for the term of his powers as the chairman of the primary organization of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB). Following the court ruling, from January 1, 2010, Gabriel resumed his work. However, the employer appealed against the court ruling; and at a new consideration of the case the court took the side of the employer. On May 21, 2010, Alexei Gabriel was dismissed again.

9. At the Bobruisk Factory of Tractor Parts and Units, employer's representatives used threats of repressions in their attempts to force the members of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB) to switchover into the "pocket" (state-supported) ASM Trade Union (of automobile and agricultural machine-building). For SPB members they even developed a special application form, where one sheet of paper contains a request to quit the SPB and join the ASM at the same time. The employer also demanded from Mikhail Kovalkov, chairman of the SPB to leave the occupied office and move into some remote room, practically inaccessible for the members of the trade union during the working hours.

10. The administration of the Mogilyov OJSC "Lavsanstroy" informed that it would not extend the labour contract with Nikolai Rasyuk, a highly skilled worker of the enterprise and an activist of the SPB. Besides, the Committee of State Security (KGB) not only "registered" Nikolai Rasyuk, but also announced him an official warning "for numerous attempts to organize non-sanctioned mass actions in the Mogilyov Region." On February 2, in the study of the chief engineer of the enterprise, he was interrogated by three KGB agents.

11. The administration of the Minsk Factory of Automatic Transfer Lines (MZAL) decided to dismiss, in violation of the Law "On Trade Unions" and the collective agreement, Alexander Surov, chairman of the primary organization of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB). In due time, Alexander refused to sign a fixed-term contract and continued working under his previous termless labour contract. Having no possibility to get rid of the active worker because of expiry of his contract, the administration decided to liquidate the position occupied by Alexander. The employer has no right to dismiss a worker who holds a leading position in the trade union without consent of this trade union. The SPB gave no consent to dismissal of the activist. The administration postponed its decision till July 1, 2010.

12. Leonid Gaishun, a highly skilled worker of the Bobruisk Factory of Tractor Parts and Units and a member of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB), was dismissed upon expiry of his fixed-term labour contract. In doing so, the administration broke the collective agreement in force at the enterprise. The trade union is sure that the reason of dismissal was in Leonid's membership in the SPB and his active position of the worker who stood for the labour rights of the workers of the enterprise. The trade union plans to go to court.

13. The primary organization of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB) of the workers of the OJSC "Polotsk-Steklovolokno" was practically removed away from collective bargaining. Victor Stukov, chairman of the SPB primary organization, was illegally attracted to disciplinary responsibility without coordination with the trade-union body (violation of Article 24 of the Law "On Trade Unions"). On November 23, 2009, the court of the Polotsk District and the city of Polotsk passed a decision to reject his claims about cancellation of his administrative punishment.

14. After joining the Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM), Vyacheslav Reut, a young worker of the Unitary Enterprise (UE) "Lyos", received a notification that his labour contract would be stopped. The employer's decision caused excitements among the workers. As a result, the administration of the enterprise was forced, under the threat of a strike expressed by the SPM members, to extend the contract with the worker.

15. The decision of the Collegium of the Ministry of Justice of January 23, 2010, rejected (repeatedly) the registration of the Belarus Trade Union "Vmeste" (Together), which unites self-occupied entrepreneurs. In the opinion of the Ministry, "the list of founders of the trade union is doubtful, the minimum membership required to set up a republic's union was not observed, and the order of its establishment was violated." Under the statement of the legal service of the BKDP, which helped the trade union in preparing documents, all the actions, necessary to register a trade union, had been completed in full.

16. The leaders of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FPB) made an attempt to impose on the trade unions, which are not members of the FPB, and on employers their own procedure of collective bargaining, which discriminates the independent trade unions and restricts their right on collective bargaining. The FPB leadership has approved the regulations, which offer the uniform procedure of collective bargaining for all trade unions and employers. According to the regulations, only FPB structures can initiate collective bargaining, they create the uniform bargaining body and sign collective agreements. With support of employers and authorities, FPB structures are guided by these regulations at the enterprises, where there are several trade unions. It leads to squeezing independent trade unions out of the bargaining process. The appeals of the BKDP with a request to give a legal expert's judgement on the judicial validity of the provisions of the regulations adopted by the FPB remain without any reaction of the state bodies in charge.

17. Trade unions are deprived of the preferential coefficient for lease of premises for their offices. The list of public organizations, which have the right to enjoy the 0.1 decreasing coefficient for the rental fee, includes no trade unions. Messages arrive from member-organizations of the BKDP that their leaseholders have presented contracts of lease to them, in which the rental fee was set, as of April 1, without the 0.1 lowering coefficient.

18. The problem of fixed-term labour contracts remains unresolved. Employers everywhere are making use of it to get rid of active workers-members of independent trade unions. According to international experts, about 90 percent of workers in Belarus are employed under fixed-term labour contracts. The President's Decree No. 164 has also failed to solve the problem of mass "contractization". The Decree empowers the employer to conclude a labour contract with a worker, who has no discipline violations and who has worked at the enterprise for at least five years, for a certain fixed term. However, according to the Decree, the decision about a termless labour contract is completely in the hands of the employer.

19. President's Decree No. 240 has restricted the terms and frequency of holding public control, which is carried out by trade unions. According to the Decree, the trade union centres should approve their audit plans well in advance and coordinate them with state bodies of control. In the opinion of independent trade unions, the Decree means interference into internal affairs of trade unions.