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Challenges and Prospects of the Independent Labour Movement in Post-Crisis Belarus

2023; McMaster University Library Press; Volume: 14; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.15173/glj.v14i3.5626

1918-6711

Raman Yerashenia,

Post-Communist Economic and Political Transition

In Belarus there has been an increase in mass arrests of workers in various companies in the past few months of this year.These arrests have been carried out directly in workplaces.Law enforcement agencies have carried out demonstrative special operations in cities such as Gomel, Novopolotsk, Novogrudok, Slutsk and others.The arrests of about ten workers at the Nioman glass factory in the city of Berezovka a month ago stand out for the particular cruelty with which they were carried out.Law enforcement officers took the workers out of the workshops, surrounded by armed special forces, and handcuffed them (Salidarnast Website, 2023).The arrests of dissidents in Belarus take the form of a veritable public spectacle, as if it were the arrest of members of an extremist network or activists of a terrorist organisation.The workers are beaten, forced to lie face down on the asphalt with their neck and head pressed with a knee.Everything that happens is recorded on video by the special services.Afterwards, these videos are disseminated through the Telegram channels of the relevant authorities, which also show videos of interrogations of detainees, who are usually beaten and humiliated, and badgered to confess.The authoritarian Belarusian regime has persecuted its opponents before.They were summoned to police interrogation or subjected to individual intimidating talks without witnesses.As a rule, such individuals received warnings or fines, and administrative arrest was considered an exception.However, from August 2020, after falsified presidential elections and the subsequent protests, the situation changed dramatically.Lukashenka's regime demonstrated its power and control over the situation in the country.The authorities' disregard for the COVID-19 epidemic, economic stagnation in the country, and extreme brutality in suppressing protests against the August 2020 election fraud led to mass protests throughout Belarus.According to some reports, about one million citizens participated in them from August to October 2020.The protesters were also supported by the workers in large enterprises.Spontaneous gatherings of workers demanding new elections took place in Minsk, Navapolatsk, Hrodna, Zhlobin, Zhodzina and other cities.But despite the mass of labour protests across the country, strikes remained rare.Only workers at Belaruskali -the fourth biggest global producer of potash and one of the biggest state owned companies in Belarus -resorted to drastic measures in the form of a strike.Following an ultimatum to the general director of Belaruskali in Salihorsk, workers at the largest mining and chemical company halted production.Strike committees were formed at all ore-processing plants, and political demands were made of the administration.These included the resignation of the incumbent president and new transparent elections (Salidarnast website, 2023).The strike in Salihorsk was the only one officially recorded during the protests of August 2020.Many labour collectives and strike committees of Hrodna, Minsk, Zhlobin, Navapolatsk announced their readiness to start strikes, but overestimated their capabilities and underestimated