Babruisk: member of Free Trade Union of Belarus gets dismissed
On 31 July Dzmitry Kurmaz, adjuster of automatic
lines and transfer machines of the 5th grade, was dismissed from the
Babruisk Plant of Tractor Parts and Units. He worked at the plant
since 2007 and had no disciplinary punishments. The worker is sure he
was dismissed because of his membership in the FTUB.
"The
plant administration does not hide the fact that my contract will not
be extended because I am a member of the Free Trade Union unit at the
plant. All employees of the plot are surprised and outraged by the
decision. The surprising fact is that the plant has
an acute shortage of qualified personnel,
whereas the
administration of the plant dismisses
qualified workers, at the same time giving
announcements that it
needs such
workers," wrote Dzmitry Kurmaz in his
appeal to the Minister of Industry of Belarus
after learning about his dismissal.
The
worker does not believe he
will be reinstated. "I don't hope
for your protection. There are principles from
which can not refuse. The right to
choose which trade union to be in is given to me, not to my boss.
I just want to inform you about the personnel
policy of the Baburisk PTPU,” reads the statement, a copy of which
was sent to the head of the plant.
Dzmitry
Kurmaz's fellow workers were outraged by this
decision of the management of the plant and
wrote a collective letter to
its head, Aliaksandr Ahranovich.
"We
address you with a
request to extend the contract with the
adjuster of the 5th
grade of the
mechanical assembly workshop No. 1
Kurmazau D.M.. During the time of his work he
proved to be a good worker, performing his duties efficiently and
quickly. The machine tool operators whose
machines he serves,
have no pretensions to his work. He is a
reliable companion in the team, who enjoys a
well-deserved respect
and reputation. We, the employees of the
mechanical part of the mechanical assembly
workshop No. 1, are
surprised by the decision of the
administration of the workshop, when the labor
contract is not extended for such aa qualified
fitter as Dzmitry
Kurmaz,” reads the statement signed by 25
colleagues of the dismissed worker.
“I
declare that the dismissal of Dzmitry
Kurmazau is political
in its nature”,
stated the chairman of
the primary unit of the FTUB Mikhail Kavalkou.
“The factory administration often accuses us of
politicization, but we just try to defend the rights of workers.
Here's what they do now - it's a politicized,
biased approach to work. Remember the recent case of Siarhei
Pichuhou, whom we
barely managed to get reinstated at work. What
concerns Dzmitry, we do not expect a miracle.
The deputy head
of the plant on personnel and the plant ideologist Uladzimir
Yeliseyenka didn't work in the same workship with Kurmazau, but
dismisses him. At the same time, the people who work there,
appreciate his skills, but cannot
to anything to change the situation! I regard
this as the destruction of our trade union organization, as far
as they dismiss those who are not afraid to
express their opinions. Ahranovich
and Yeliseyenka do not
realize that over time they
can be caught in a similar situation,” commented
Mikhail Kavalkou.
