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CONGRESS OF BELARUSSIAN TRADE UNIONS, DAY ONE: FIRM STAND
AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY.
The Congress got down to business despite
Administration’s attempts to disrupt its work
October10, Minsk. To preserve trade union unity and to
oppose the Governmental interference is item number one on the
agenda of the Regular Third Congress of the Federation of
Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) that opened yesterday in the
Trade Union Headquarters. The day before the delegates were
faced with a massive pressure campaign on behalf of President
Lukashenko and his Administration. The very event of the
Congress was endangered by a Governmental agencies’ decision
to close a Trade Union Federation’s bank account under a
formal pretext and to initiate criminal suits against its
leaders.
Participating to the Congress are over three hundred
delegates representing 4,370,000 trade union members of the
country. Among the guests of the Congress there are
representatives of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions
of Russia, the Trade Union Federation of Ukraine, the
All-Poland Trade Union Agreement OPZZ, the Center of
Lithuanian Trade Unions, the French General Confederation of
Labor CGT, the French Trade Union Federation Force Ouvrier,
the General Confederation of Labor of Vietnam. International
Organizations are represented by the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the International Trade
Union Secretariats IUF, UNI, ICEM. Besides, participating are
also representatives of the International Labor Organization,
Ambassadors of Germany and France in the Republic of Belarus.
In their welcoming addresses the guests repeatedly stressed
the importance of the Belarus trade unions struggle to protect
not only their own independence but also the principles of
freedom fundamental for the country’s well-being. Mark
Blondel, Vice President of the ICFTU, said that the people of
Belarus is now living under the last dictatorship in Europe.
As to the weight of pressure imposed on the trade unions,
Belarus is second only to Columbia where trade union leaders
are being simply shot dead.
Andrey Mrost, ICEM Regional Secretary, conveyed the best
regards of fellow trade unionists including the Serbian Trade
Union of Energy and Mining Sector Workers who played a
decisive role in throwing down Miloshevich’ s regime which
had held out against the NATO bombing but was unable to
withstand the solidarity of strikers.
Frank Hoffer, Representative of the ILO Moscow Office,
stated that the International Labor Organization will keep an
eye on the future developments of the Belarussian situation.
In the nearest future, an ILO Mission is planning to visit the
country responding to the formal complaint about the
Government’s violations of core ILO Conventions submitted by
the Belarus trade unions. The Mission will be headed by Kari
Tapiola, Deputy General Director, which is an extraordinary
case showing the gravity of the situation.
The Congress received hundreds of telegrams and letters of
solidarity and protest against the Administration interference
as part of the International campaign of solidarity with the
Belarussian Trade Unions held jointly by the ICFTU,
International Trade Union Secretariats, and the Federation of
Independent Trade Unions of Russia. Some of the letters were
read aloud by the FTUB Chairman Vladimir Goncharik and were
greeted with applause by the delegates.
The Congress will continue its work tomorrow. It will
consider Reports of the FTUB Council and the Auditing
Commission, and will discuss the FTUB Program for 2001-2005.
The Congress then will elect the Federation ruling bodies and
its Chairperson. It is planning to pass a Resolution on the
unity of trade unionism in Belarus encouraging trade union
members not to surrender to the threats and to repulse any
attempt to infringe or violate trade union rights.
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