Belarus is one of the ten countries in the world with the worst situation with workers’ rights. This is stated in the corresponding new rating published by the International Trade Union Confederation.
According to the rating, the worst situation with workers’ rights this year is in Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Guatemala, Myanmar, the Philippines, Tunisia and Turkey.
The study notes that in Belarus, as well as Egypt, Hong Kong and Sudan, the independent trade union movement has already been destroyed by the authorities, and workers “have been deprived of their basic freedom to form and join trade unions of their own choice.”
The rating notes that since April 2022, the Belarusian government has intensified repression against independent trade unions. Arrests and harassment of workers who are disloyal to the regime continue in the country. It is reported that 42 trade union leaders and members are currently unfairly imprisoned in Belarus. “Those who are released by the authorities after serving their sentence are branded “extremists” and become outcasts in society,” the rating says.