Workers of the Połacak Plant "Steklovolokno" on October 10 at the conference decided to hold a strike. The workers' conference was organized by the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB). Workers demand equal treatment of plant workers, regardless of participation in the union.
As the trade union leaders told, the strike on "Steklovolokno" was the last measure to stop bullying the workers in the form of discrimination and psychological terrorization for participating in the Free Trade Union. The workers' requirements for the employer contain 17 items relating to changes in the norms of the collective agreement. These requirements should ensure that the employer does not interfere in the activities of the trade union, the equal treatment of workers who are in different trade unions.
The strike is scheduled for the period from November 1 until the end of the year. As trade unionists suggest, the strike will have a character of fan development in different brigades at different times. The decision on the form, place and time of the strike will be taken directly by the workers' units in the field without prior warning to the chiefs of units.
"In any case, says the chairman of the SPB primary group, Viktor Stukov, according to Article 391 of the Labor Code, the worker individually decides to join the strike. No boss can force a worker not to take part in a strike, for which criminal responsibility is foreseen for the boss."
Deputy Chairman of the SPB Nikolai Sharakh: "The workers' conference declared a strike in full compliance with the Labor Code. In January 2017, the union declared the demand for collective bargaining, in early July, workers were sent to the employer. On August 1, a new collective agreement was passed without taking into account the proposals of the workers and without explaining the reasons why these proposals were not taken into account. Therefore, the legal circumstances of the collective labor dispute arose. Further, according to the Labor Code, the procedures go in a very short time. On September 8, the union sent demands to the employer and 22 proposals on the conciliation commission. All these letters of the trade union the employer ignored. Therefore, on October 1, it became obvious that the consent of the parties to a collective labor dispute had not been reached."
100% of the delegates arrived at the workers' conference organized by the St. Petersburg Union, who unanimously voted for the strike. The number of delegates to the conference and the membership of the trade union does not disclose for the safety of workers. On October 11, the trade union sent a notice to the director about the strike, as required by article 390 of the Labor Code.
Alexander Morozov
