Alena Zakhozhaia Signs Refusal from Food

On 1 November the hunger-striker Alena Zakhozhaia was examined by several medics. On their request she signed the confirmation that she refused from food. She also asked them to prepare the liquids for all droppers in her presence. Now she drinks only diluted juices. While the ambulance doctors were giving medical aid to A.Zakhozhaia when she lost conscience at the working place representatives of the administration brought to her the ruling according to which she was to be deprived from the wage bonus for October for ‘absence from the working place’. The matter is that at 10.00-11.30 a.m. on 24 October she had a talk with the OSCE representative Fiona Frazer. However, before this she had a talk with the journalists of the TV channel Mahiliou-1 and it didn’t lead to such results. The administration of the Belshyna (Belarusian tyre) plant persistently hushes up the reason for the conflict with the worker – the refusal of Belshyna to provide a legal address to the local unit of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BITU) so that it could get the state registration. Instead of it the administration presents Zakhozhaia’s hunger-strike as struggle for financial means. However, it means that the heads of the enterprise mocked at the hunger-strikers for 11 days.

According to ruling #2584 of 20 October 2006 the workers Zakhozhaia, Hurlo, Maslenchanka and Ustsinovich were to receive a holiday pay and wage bonuses. According to paragraph 4 of that ruling the payments were to be made by 31 October. On that day they were familiarized with the order. Where was it then for 11 days of the hunger-strike? On 1 November the negotiations between representatives of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BITU) and the Belshyna administration started. Nothing is known about the results yet.