The primary organization of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) of the workers of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Naftan" has addressed the employer with a request to start bilateral bargaining towards signing a collective agreement. The reason is that the tripartite agreement between the employer, BNP and the official (state-supported) trade union "Belkhimprofsoyuz" fails to consider the independent trade union as a social partner.

Ivan Svyatokho, chairman of the primary BNP unit, told the website www.praca-by.info that after creation in the end of May this year of a tripartite commission on collective bargaining, the independent trade union had a hope that the social partnership at the enterprise would have some progress.

However, activists' hopes were vain. Olga Rogovskaya, head of the "Belkhimprofsoyuz" primary organization, refused to sign an agreement that the trade-union party would be represented by two organizations. Moreover, the draft collective agreement prepared by the employer does not mention the BNP whatsoever. According to Ivan Svyatokho, Ms Rogovskaya told him about her hopes that she would be delegated the rights to sign the agreement.

"But we can't do it," said Mr Svyatokho. "If there's no signature of the BNP under the agreement, de jure we'll lose any chances to control its provisions, offer changes; simply speaking, we lose a legal opportunity to participate in social partnership. In fact, the collective agreement is a legal act, which regulates the social-labour relations at the enterprise.

In Ivan Svyatokho's opinion, the official trade union, by first having agreed to tripartite bargaining but then rejecting the BNP's right to sign the collective agreement tries to oust the independent trade union from social partnership.

By the way, this is far from being the first case, when structures of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (the state-supported FPB) try to impose their order of collective bargaining to independent trade unions and employers, which discriminates the independent trade unions and restricts their right to take part in collective bargaining.

The FPB leadership has even approved the regulations offering the unified order of collective bargaining. According to the document, only FPB units may initiate collective bargaining. They also create the united bargaining body and are signatories of collective agreements. Under support of employers and authorities, FPB structures are guided by their position at enterprises, where several trade unions are active.

Ivan Svyatokho said that the BNP had sent an appeal to director general of the factory with an offer to start bilateral negotiations on signing a separate collective agreement. The employer's decision will be known next week.

Let us remind you that the primary unit of the independent trade union is going to bring amendments into the new collective agreement concerning guarantees of employment and labour safety. In particular, the BNP offers to agree with the trade union the issues of dismissal of workers, except for the cases of larceny and drunkenness, and also to guarantee the obligatory prolongation of labour contracts of single mothers and parents, who are bringing up children until they reach their full legal age.