{"id":136474,"date":"2025-05-02T14:28:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T11:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/136474\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","slug":"how-lukasenka-crushed-independent-labor-history-of-repression","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/136474\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u0141uka\u0161enka crushed independent labor: history of repression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For over three decades, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has systematically dismantled independent labor in Belarus, using repression, propaganda, and political control to turn trade unions into instruments of his authoritarian rule.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n \u0141uka\u0161enka is filmed carrying a log with workers for a propaganda report, April 22, 2017\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Belarusian leader's website)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Early attacks on workers\u2019 rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka took his first steps to restrict workers\u2019 rights just one year after being elected president in a free and fair election in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1995, his security forces suppressed a strike by Minsk subway workers protesting the employer\u2019s violation of a collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian leader accused nationalists from the Belarusian Popular Front and the United States of instigating the protests, and responded by firing dozens of strikers. He brought in train engine operators from Moscow to replace the dismissed workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also in 1995, he began efforts to curtail the activities of independent trade unions, which resisted for seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, \u0141uka\u0161enka claimed victory in a presidential race against U\u0142adzimir Han\u010daryk, leader of the Belarusian Federation of Trade Unions (FTUB), who received only 15.7 percent of the vote, according to the government-controlled Central Election Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year later, \u0141uka\u0161enka removed Han\u010daryk from his position at the FTUB and installed Leanid Kozik, then deputy head of the Presidential Administration, as the new trade union leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, FTUB leaders have operated more like subordinates of \u0141uka\u0161enka than independent labor representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michai\u0142 Orda, FTUB chairman from 2014 to 2024, played a key role in \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s 2020 re-election campaign, which was marred by violence against voters, including labor activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retaliation against workers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It took years for \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s authoritarian government to suppress the labor movement completely.
Miners from Salihorsk marched to the capital in 1996 and 1998 to press for economic reforms. They were arrested and fined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, \u0141uka\u0161enka signed a decree introducing short-term contracts, making it easier for employers to fire workers arbitrarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, attacks on independent trade unions continued, prompting the European Union to expel Belarus from its Generalized System of Preferences in June 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mass protests over \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s disputed 2020 re-election led to strikes at major industrial enterprises, including the Minsk-based bus and truck plant MAZ, the MTZ tractor plant, the Hrodna Azot fertilizer factory, the Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij potash company and the Naftan oil refinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a visit to the Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant (MZKT) on April 17, hundreds of workers booed \u0141uka\u0161enka and chanted, \u201cResign!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security forces quickly suppressed the strikes and punished the activists involved. \u0141uka\u0161enka narrowly avoided being ousted, thanks in part to the sporadic nature of the strikes and the opposition\u2019s failure to coordinate nationwide labor action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the 2020 unrest, \u0141uka\u0161enka outlawed all independent trade unions, labeling them \u201cextremist formations.\u201d He imprisoned key trade union leaders, including Alaksandar Jara\u0161uk of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, Hiennad\u017a Fiadyni\u010d of the Trade Union of Electronic Industry Workers, and Volha Brycikava of Naftan\u2019s independent union cell. Dozens of activists fled abroad to avoid arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarnished man-of-the-people image<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From the start of his more than 30-year rule, \u0141uka\u0161enka cultivated a \u201cman of the people\u201d image, often emphasizing his rural roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He regularly speaks at end-of-harvest festivals, praises hardworking farmers and publicly showcases his physical activities and gardening, including chopping wood at his residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He champions the value of hard labor\u2014a notion more characteristic of outdated economic systems.
At the same time, he has criticized IT professionals, many of whom participated in the 2020 protests.
Thousands of white-collar workers have fled Belarus in the past four years to avoid persecution. Now, facing a severe labor shortage, \u0141uka\u0161enka is considering importing 150,000 workers from Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His populist image has recently been undermined by investigative reports detailing his luxurious lifestyle\u2014expensive watches and suits, a fleet of vehicles, roughly two dozen residences and close business ties involving his inner circle and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In truth, \u0141uka\u0161enka lost touch with ordinary people long ago. His grip on power now appears driven more by fear of losing his wealth than by any commitment to public service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"