Unrest in Polatsk: Workers leaving official trade union

• 31.10.2012, 11:58

About 100 workers of Polotsk-Steklovolokno plant refused to pay dues for the official trade union.

The workers are dissatisfied with low wages, bad working conditions and other problems that the official trade union of the chemical industry does not try to solve, Radio Svaboda reports.

Viktar Stukau, the head of the independent trade union branch, says: “Two persons came to us so far, but scores quitted the official trade union. The matter is that workers suffer from psychological pressure. They are said they will face problems if they join the Free Trade Union. In the beginning, we said to the people who were asking for our advice: 'You join us and leave the other trade union.' But managers scared people and we proposed just to refuse to pay union dues. They did so. We already have about 100 people who are not members of any trade union. They are waiting for developments. We are certain it will be easier to achieve something by joint efforts.”

Activists of the Trade Union showed this year how to struggle for receiving full wages. For this purpose they had to initiate legal actions against the plant management.