16 April is the Day of Action for Trade Union Rights and Democracy in Belarus. Trade unions, united in their efforts ask European and other countries’ political leaders to demand freedom for Belarusian trade union leaders and activists who remain behind bars.
Since 2022, the independent trade union movement in Belarus has faced relentless dismantling. In the wake of the peaceful protests of 2020, the Belarusian Government has escalated its crackdown on civil society, singling out independent trade unions with particular ferocity. Over the course of numerous arrests and trials, more than 40 trade union leaders and activists have been imprisoned, and all independent trade unions have been forcibly dissolved by court order.
The most high-profile case is that of Aliaksandr Yarashuk, former President of the BKDP (the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions) and a member of the ILO Governing Body, who, along with the BKDP Vice-President, Siarhei Antusevich, and others, was sentenced to harsh prison terms simply for defending workers’ rights.
The global trade union movement stands together in solidarity. IndustriAll Europe supports the critical campaign initiated by the BKDP, an independent, national trade union association affiliated to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of industriAll Europe, says: “We stand united in demanding justice for our fellow trade unionists in Belarus, who are enduring severe repression. As an organisation, and also as fellow human beings, we cannot allow these injustices to go unnoticed or unchallenged. I totally agree with Atle Høie, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, when he writes in a letter to his affiliates that this campaign is about more than Belarus — it is about defending the fundamental rights of workers everywhere. When one of us is attacked, we are all at risk.”
Kirton-Darling would urge all European political leaders to demand justice: “Stand Up for Trade Union Rights and Democracy in Belarus!”
IndustriAll Europe is encouraging all its affiliates to take action and participate in this campaign. See how you can support the campaign in a letter from IndustriALL Global Union: EN SP FR. And also see how you can support, by visiting the webpage https://www.salidarnast.info/general-8.