Independent trade union activity suppressed: The authorities desire to prevent any independent trade union activity was underlined by the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Miklos Haraszti. Speaking during the presentation of his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 24 June 2015, Haraszti warned that the "systematic violation of human rights, in particular civil and political rights, continues." He confirmed that labour rights continued to be denied, and independent labour unions were suppressed.

These views were echoed at a sub-regional meeting of IndustriALL's affiliates in the CIS region in Moldova on 3-4 September. Union leaders from Belarus emphasised the urgent need for the Belorussian unions to get recognition of trade union rights and freedom of association. For several years, unions in Belarus were not allowed to organise events to celebrate 7 October, the World Day for Decent Work, since the state authorities had never approved their requests. (Unions were allowed to mark World Day for Decent Work Day in 2015, however). Union organising as it works in other countries in the region is not possible in Belarus, the leaders emphasised. They also spoke about the vicious system of short-term employment contracts affecting the majority of workers, and about the recent legal reduction of notification of dismissal from one month to one week, making it easier to remove independent trade unionists.

Bobruisk Tractor Plant and Components Company dismisses striking worker and deputy chairperson of SPB union: On 30 June 2015 the management of Bobruisk Tractor Plant and Components Company dismissed Sergey Pichugov, a young professional instrument worker. His contract was terminated with only one-day notice rather than the one month required by legislation. In March 2014 he was among the SPB members who went on hunger strike at their workplace: this gives reasonable ground to think that his dismissal was of a discriminatory nature because of his affiliation to the SPB trade union and because of the strike action he became involved in. The same company is not new to anti-union behaviour: only two months after Mr. Pichugov 's contract termination, the same fate happened to the deputy chairperson of the SPB company union, Mrs Oksana Kernozhitskaya. On 21 August Mrs Kernozhitskaya was dismissed despite local authorities' and Members of Parliament's attempts to persuade the company. No explanation of the grounds justifying the dismissal was provided by the enterprise, making it clear once again that the reasons behind her dismissal laid in her affiliation to an independent union and her active position in advocating for workers' rights and interests. This was a new wave of anti-union dismissal in the company that followed the one of 2014.

Authorities seek to impose official unions in private enterprises: In late May 2015, at the Congress of the pro-government Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) held in Minsk, President Lukashenko ordered that (official) trade unions be established at all enterprises by mid-2016. At the beginning of June, he signed Decree No 4, which introduced amendments to Decree No 2 of 26 January 1999 regulating the activities of political parties, trade unions and other public associations. The decree aims to simplify the creation of trade unions at all enterprises, regardless of ownership.

According to an article that appeared in Belarus Infocus on 9 June 2015, "The main role of the FTUB is to control employees, ensure their integration and freeze protest activity among workers. De facto, official trade unions do not respond to significant deterioration of workers' situation, including delays of wage payments, underemployment, reduced working hours and mass layoffs." The FTUB represents about 90 per cent of the economically active population in Belarus – about four million people. However, the share of workers employed in the private sector has increased recently; hence, the authorities want to create official trade unions in private companies in order to have additional control mechanisms over the private sector, and stifle dissent.

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