The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News on the topic: labor rights

13.02.2008 Rechytsa Authorities Refuse to Register Trade Union again

Rechytsa authorities again refused to register a primary unit of the Belarusian trade union of radio-electronic industry. The formal reason is that the landlord decided to revoke his letter of guarantee for giving a legal address to the organization.

11.02.2008 New Professional Restrictions

A special permission by the authorities, named as professional and psychological interview or testing, is needed to study such disciplines as international activity, journalism, law.

09.02.2008 Independent Trade Union Helps Worker to Return His Money

The trade union of radio-electronic industry (REI) managed to get the court abolish a disciplinary punishment to its activist, driver of Brestenerhazberazhenne enterprise Mikhail Zychkou, and return to him the wage he had been deprived of as a result. It happened thanks to the insistence and professionalism of the trade-union’s specialists. They had not only to prove the unlawfulness of the administration’s actions, but also fight with the judicial illiteracy of the judge of Maskouski district court of Brest Mrs. Levanchuk.

15.01.2008 Fired Not to Be Paid

The activist of the For Freedom movement, lawyer of the Kamunalnik enterprise Tatsiana Sadouskaya has been fired.

14.01.2008 Economical Persecution of Protesting Entrepreneurs

In the morning of 14 December the administration of the market center Underground city hanged out the lists of the persons who were absent from work on 10 December, during the protest action of entrepreneurs. This can be considered as violation of the regime of work of the market center. As a result those who were absent from their jobs without a ‘good excuse’ can be deprived of their licenses of individual entrepreneurs and thus lose their jobs.

14.11.2007 Human Rights Activists Demand to Abolish Forced State Assignment of Graduates

This year 65 criminal cases have been brought against the high school graduates who failed to get to the places of work assignment. The present legislation treats such behavior as evasion from duties and demands from the people to pay off the costs that had been already spent by the state for their education. The numbers differ, but in general it is about 3-5 thousand US dollars, the average wage being about 200 dollars.

24.10.2007 Cattle-breeders Receive Dead Claves as Salary

Farm management forced workers to buy dead cattle

08.10.2007 Liquidator of Consequence of Chernobyl Accident Gets Sacked

The worker of the Polymir public corporation Aliaksandr Ustsin was fired for ?absence from work without good excuse’.

05.10.2007 Employers Are Fined for Refusal to Employ Immoral Parents

The state enterprises are unable to refuse from employing the parents whose children have been alienated. That’s why such people are employed as apprentices with the wages of 160 – 180 000 rubles ($74 – 84).

13.09.2007 Workers of Mahiliou Repairs Plant Sue the Authorities

The shareholders of Mahiliou repairs lodged a claim on the actions of the enterprise authorities and the regional officials to the commercial court.

11.09.2007 Supreme Court Rejects Suit of Initiators of Contract System Abolishment

The Supreme Court did not satisfy the suit of the initiative group of citizens who intended to collect signatures for abolishment of the contract system. The citizens asked the court to abolish the ruling of the Central Election Commission who refused to register them. The court confessed the groundlessness of the CEC refusal, but stated that the proposal to amend the labor legislation contradicted to the Belarusian legislation. As a result the CEC refusal to register the initiative group was left in force.

12.07.2007 Workers Can Come out to Streets

Workers of Minsk Ball-Bearing Works sent a group letter to the President’s Administration and the State Control Committee asking to check the works and expressing their readiness to street actions for defending their rights.