24.01.2012 "Granit" Administration keeps BNP activist at work
The examination of Leonid Dubonosov, an activist of the primary organization of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) at the Republic's Unitary Production Enterprise (RUPE) "Granit" (Mikashevichi, Brest Region), for the admittance category for work with electric equipment lasted for two hours. Finally, he successfully passed his re-attestation exam for Category III, although he was nervous and feared that because of his BNP membership he would not be admitted to work at all.more >>

20.01.2012 Independent trade unions consider boycott of Belarusian goods by EU
Alexander Yaroshuk, Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), told BelaPAN that Belarusian independent trade unions are studying a possibility of launching a campaign of boycotting Belarus-made goods at the European market.more >>

19.01.2012 Gennady Fedynich: "Our main aim is to strengthen the influence of the real economy sector"
The Chairman of the REP Trade Union Gennady Fedynich told in his interview to the correspondent of the "Rabochaya Solidarnost" (Workers' Solidarity) about the new tasks of the trade union, shared his plans about formation of the Council of the BKDP (Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions) and called for union solidarity.more >>

18.01.2012 Workers of "Granit" visit Soligorsk and tell about pressure on BNP members
On January 16, Soligorsk hosted a meeting of the new members of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) – workers of the Republic's Unitary Production Enterprise RUPE "Granit" (located in the town of Mikashevichi, Luninets District, Brest Region of Belarus) with the leaders of the BNP and the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP). They had to hold the meeting in the private house of Nikolai Zimin, Chairman of the BNP, since repeated attempts to arrange the meeting in administrative premises were unsuccessful.more >>

11.01.2012 Head of the Brest Regional Executive Power promises BNP members better working conditions
After a number of workers of the Republic's Unitary Production Enterprise (RUPE) "Granit" (located in the city of Mikashevichi, Brest Region of Belarus) joined the primary organization of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP), administration officials began hinting them on non-renewal of their labour contracts and possible problems at attestation. Konstantin Sumar, Chairman of the Brest Regional Executive Committee, who visited the RUPE, promised to improve the working conditions at the enterprise and assured that the administration would not interfere with workers' membership in the BNP.more >>

11.01.2012 REP Trade Union activists bring smiles of children
For almost a month activists of the Belarusian Trade Union of Workers of Electronics Industry (REP) had been gathering – in collaboration with activists of the public campaign "European Belarus" – the necessary articles for one of the Minsk children's homes.more >>

16.12.2011 BKDP Congress passed in hot debates
The Congress was attended by delegates of the member-organizations of the BKDP – the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP), the REP Trade Union, the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB) and the Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM), who came from all regions of Belarus. In total, 99 out of 104 elected delegates took part in the work of the forum. Alexander Yaroshuk was re-elected as the Chairman of the BKDP for his fourth term.more >>

13.12.2011 KGB returns nonworking office equipment to REP Trade Union
For almost a year the office equipment of the REP Trade Union – several computers, system blocks and electronic data carriers – was kept by the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB). Today, on December 13, the trade union received its equipment back; however, everything – in nonworking condition. The trade union documents, confiscated together with the equipment, are still kept by the KGB.more >>

13.12.2011 REP Trade Union helps workers to return over 90 million roubles
As a result of judicial litigations held in January-September 2011, the lawyers of the REP Trade Union managed to adjudge 90,146,662 roubles in favour of the workers, who suffered from employers' lawlessness.more >>

09.12.2011 BNP: "Our goal is to urge workers to enjoy all the legitimate rights in full"
On the eve of the International Human Rights Day, marked on December 8, the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) has organized a roundtable on the problems of observance of human rights in Belarus. The event was attended by the BNP leadership and trade union journalists.more >>

07.12.2011 BNP asks "Belneftekhim" about real wages, privatization process and TA implementation
During the next round of negotiations on implementation of the Tariff Agreement (TA), the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) made a number of comments and raised questions about the amount of real wages in the industry branch, about the workers' rights to buy shares in privatized enterprises, and about implementation of a number of TA provisions.more >>

05.12.2011 Trial on People`s Assembly case in Vitebsk postponed because of prosecution failure
The respondents in the case on organization on holding the People's Assembly in the city of Vitebsk have insisted on postponement of the judicial session because of inconsistency of the prosecution. The organizers of the assembly were accused of breaking two mutually excluding laws – "On Mass Events" and "On Republic's and Local Assemblies".more >>

02.12.2011 On the eve of BKDP Congress REP activists plan to meet BKDP leader
On December 14, the regular Congress of the BKDP (Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions) will take place, where the current leadership will report the results of the three years' work and the election of new leaders of this independent trade union centre will be held. The correspondent of the "Rabochaya Solidarnost" (Workers' Solidarity) has asked Igor Komlik, a member of the Board of the BKDP and Chairman of the Minsk City organization of the REP Trade Union to tell about the preparation for the upcoming BKDP Congress.more >>

30.11.2011 Novopolotsk City Executive Committee provokes "Naftan" workers for unauthorized actions
The city authorities of Novopolotsk have for four times refused to allow a picket applied for by the workers of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Naftan" – members of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP). The trade union believes that by prohibiting the union activists to exercise their right to the freedom of expression, the City Executive Committee provokes them for unauthorized actions.more >>

26.11.2011 BNP marks its 20th anniversary
On November 25, the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (known as BNP) marked the 20th anniversary of its foundation. On that day in 1991, the BNP received its state registration.more >>

22.11.2011 REP Trade Union creates a new union group
The other day, the Minsk City primary organization of the REP Trade Union has organized a new trade union group, which now has 14 union members.more >>

18.11.2011 Prosecutor`s Office resumes the case on attack on REP office
The Prosecutor's Office of the Sovietskiy District of the city of Minsk has cancelled the decision of the UVD (Interior Department) of the Administration of the Sovietskiy District not to initiate a criminal case on the fact of the attack on the office of the REP Trade Union, as a result of which a window was broken and the entrance door was damaged.more >>

17.11.2011 Tax Inspectorate asks REP Trade Union leader to justify purchase of second-hand car
Gennady Fedynich, Chairman of the REP Trade Union, was invited to the Inspectorate for Taxes and Dues of the Tsentralny District of Minsk, where he was asked to report the sources of the money he used to buy – back in 2005 – a Toyota Avensis car.more >>

15.11.2011 Zinaida Mikhnyuk fined by two basic units
The Deputy Chair of the REP Trade Union Zinaida Mikhnyuk was fined by two basic units (70,000 Belarusian roubles) for her allegedly hooligan behaviour on October 8 – the day of the People's Assembly. more >>

10.11.2011 Court refuses to hear case against KGB
After a preliminary judicial session, the Court of the Partizanskiy District of the city of Minsk dismissed any further consideration of the complaint lodged by Zhanna Zaprivarina and Nikolai Pokhabov, activists of the REP Trade Union, against illegal actions of the KGB (Committee for State Security) Department for Minsk and Minsk Region.more >>

03.11.2011 SPM activists demand to release their colleague from custody
Belarusian authorities continue persecuting the trade union activists, who took part in preparation and holding of people's assemblies on October 8, where participants demanded to address economic problems and regulate labour relations in a civilized manner. Three weeks after the action, Valery Rybchenko, an activist of the Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM), was arrested in the city of Zhlobin and sentenced to 14 days of imprisonment.more >>

02.11.2011 BNP initiates ratification of ILO Convention "On Occupational Safety and Health in Mines"
The Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) has put forward the initiative to ratify the ILO (International Labour Organization) Convention No. 176 "On Occupational Safety and Health in Mines". In the near future, the BNP will send personal appeals to each of the 110 Deputies of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian Parliament asking them to bring the bill on ratification of this Convention for consideration at the next parliamentary session.more >>

31.10.2011 Prague: unionists raise money to pay the fine adjudged to REP Trade Union leader (photo)
The participants of the regional conference of member-organizations of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) in the Central, Eastern, South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have initiated a cap-money raising for paying the fine imposed by the Belarusian court on Gennady Fedynich, the leader of the REP Independent Trade Union.more >>

31.10.2011 IMF conference condemns detention and trial of trade union leader
Representatives of member-organizations of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) in the Central, Eastern, South-East Europe and the CIS, who gathered for their regional conference in Prague, have resolutely condemned the detention on October 25, 2011, at the Minsk Airport of Gennady Fedynich, Chairman of the Belarusian REP Trade Union, who was on his way to the above IMF conference.more >>

28.10.2011 Director of Lukoml SDPP promises to SPB to increase salaries
A few days ago, an emergency meeting took place of Alexander Bazylenko, Director-General of the Lukoml State District Power Plant (SDPP) with Alexei Gabriel, chairman of the primary organization of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB). The topic was the leakage of labour force from the plant and the need to increase wages and salaries.more >>

27.10.2011 FPB leaders want to force – just for "fairness" – all Belarusian workers to fund them
The workers who are not union members, but who are covered by the Collective Agreement shall make monthly transfers to the account of the trade union committee in the amount of union membership fees. This opinion was expressed at the sitting of the Presidium of the Board of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FPB). The Chairman of the Federation Leonid Kozik believes that this proposal should be fixed at the legislative level.more >>

26.10.2011 Chairman of REP Trade unionists fined 40 basic units
Gennady Fedynich, Chairman of the REP Trade Union, has been fined by 40 basic units (1.4 million Belarusian roubles) for organizing the People's Assembly. Judge Kirill Polulekh has ignored a flagrant violation of the procedure – the protocol on administrative violation was drawn up two weeks after the alleged offence was committed.more >>

26.10.2011 Reporting-Electing Congress of BKDP appointed on 14 December
At its meeting on October 19, the Board of the BKDP (Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions), the governing body of the independent trade union centre, decided to hold the regular Eighth Reporting-Electing Congress of the BKDP.more >>

25.10.2011 BNP offers to check whether BNP and "Belkhimprofsoyuz" meet the democratic principles of the international trade union movement
Nikolai Zimin, Chairman of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP), has offered, when speaking at a conference of the ICEM regional organization for Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South Caucasus, to set up a commission and check the activities of two member-organizations of the ICEM – the BNP and the "Belkhimprofsoyuz" – for compliance with the ICEM democratic principles. more >>

25.10.2011 Thirty persons came to support Zinaida Mikhnyuk at the first court hearing on her case of "disorderly conduct"
On October 20, the court started considering the case on charges against Zinaida Mikhnyuk, Deputy Chair of the REP Trade Union, of her disorderly conduct (minor hooliganism) on the day of the People's Assembly held on October 8. Thirty union activists came to support their leader.more >>