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Police in Minsk prevent trade union activists from demonstrating to mark World Day for Decent Work

 

Police officers prevented activists of the Independent Union of Electronic Industry Workers from properly staging a rally in Minsk on October 7 to mark World Day for Decent Work.

Shortly after some 30 members of the union gathered on a sidewalk adjacent to Peoples’ Friendship Park in Bangalore Square, police officers came up and ordered them to walk deep into the park.

When Henadz Fyadynich, chairman of the union, showed the officers a permit from the Minsk City Executive Committee that allowed the rally to be held at that place, they threatened to call the riot police.

The demonstrators moved into the park but dispersed after a few minutes. “It doesn’t make sense to demonstrate where there are no people and nobody can see and hear our demands,” Mr. Fyadynich explained to reporters.

The objective of the rally was to draw public attention to the fact that salaries and wages were not rising as fast as the prices of consumer goods and services. //BelaPAN