Slonim pro-dem activist forced to resign under pressure from employer

Viktar Marchyk, one of the activists of the United Democratic Forces in Slonim, was dismissed from the local poultry farm back in early April. He was fired for alleged systematic violations of labor discipline.

However, Viktar Marchyk considered his dismissal illegal and lodged a lawsuit with Slonim District Court to protect his labor rights. Recently, Slonim District Court heard the case and ruled to restore the activist in his workplace. It also ordered the employer to compensate the enforced leave.

After the trial, Viktar Marchyk commented on the situation as follows:

“It all started when I witnessed the facts of violation of the labor rights of workers in the factory from the employer and stood to their defense. In order to protect the labor rights I applied to various authorities, which the employer, of course, did not like and started exert pressure on me. One by one, I started getting reprimands and was deprived of the end-of-year bonus. In order to seek justice, I was forced to file a lawsuit to the court. And the court almost completely satisfied my claim. However, without waiting for the court’s decision, the director of the poultry farm Dzmitry Zaikouski dismissed me on the basis of para. 4, Art. 42 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus for alleged systematic violations of labor discipline. Of course, I strongly disagreed with that and filed a lawsuit to the court for the reinstatement in my former workplace. To be honest, at first I did not have absolute confidence that justice would be achieved. However, I was not going to give up and believed that everything should work out. I was hoping that I could get help from the trade union acting on the farm, but I was wrong. As it turned out, the union does not protect the worker, but the employer. So I decided to apply to the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, where I received qualified help. Because of this I was able to achieve justice.”

Viktar Marchyk was reinstated to the position in the farm’s security. But the farm director Dzmitry Zaikouski constantly put pressure on the activist, forcing him to perform undue tasks, e.g. chopping wood, mowing, loading, etc. As a result, Viktar Marchyk had to write a letter of resign. On July 26 he was officially dismissed.