On 28-29 August, 2010 Minsk hosted a joint seminar for the representatives of Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM) of Belarus and the Interregional Trade Union of Automobile Workers (MPRA) Russia. Organizations have been cooperating already for nearly 2 years for the aims of developing both trade unions and protecting their members. Both unions are affiliated to the International Federation of...

Belarus Prime-Minister Sergei Sidorsky meeting the FPB union activists on 25 August, 2010 has qualified the issue of violations of trade union rights in Belarus as an “imposed” one by the International Labor Organization (ILO). He also declared that the world trade union movement is blocking the return of EU trade preferences to Belarus. The head of Belarusian Government recommended th...

At the BKDP Council meeting May 18, 2009 the proposition of the Government to include BKDP representative into tripartite officialdelegation to the 98^th annual International Labor Conference was discussed. The Council members entrusted the BKDP Chairman Alexander Yaroshuk to represent the interests of the organization at this important international forum. The Council adopted its Statement where t...

The BKDP leader Alexander Yaroshuk has forwarded a letter to General Secretaries of International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Guy Ryder and International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco & Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) Ron Oswald in which he explained the position of BKDP towards the publications on “Salidarnast” web-page where it, i...

The previous week proved to be the busiest one for the BKDP. On January 20-22, 2009 the national tripartite seminar on evaluating the implementation of the ILO recommendations was held in Minsk. At least 150 people representing three sides of social partnership (government, employers and trade unions) took part in it. From trade union side there were 55 persons and 20 of them represented independe...

Last Friday, December 19, General Agreement for the period of 2009-2010 was signed in the premises of Belarus Trade Union Federation (FPB) between the Government, Employers’ and Workers’ organizations. We are to remind that the work on the Agreement was carried out, at least, during the last half a year. At all the stages the BKDP representatives participated actively being the members...

The VII BKDP convention which took place December 11 2008 showed that after hard 15 years of establishment and internal development processes the national union has acquired certain degree of maturity of a really strong organization fully capable under the law. The BKDP is recognized and its opinion is regarded in the country and outside it. The independent national union center is ready to face n...

As the process of privatization has already started in the country the BKDP Council on 22 July 2008 adopted its statement which says that the prior and basic requirements for implementation of privatization are to be openness and transparency. “Uphold jointly just and fair privatization; not few individuals but entire Belarusian people should benefit from it! – is the major slogan of B...

The representatives of the Women’s Network of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), Women’s Movement of Belarusian Workers’ Union in Radio and Electronic Industry and of Belarusian Organization of Working Women (BOWW) were refused to have their gender conference in the hotel “Oktyabrskaya” inMinsk.

On Sunday 9 of March at about 1.30 p.m. in the premises of the BKDP the police detained 32 young activists of the Free Metalworkers’ Union (SPM) and the Belarusian Free TradeUnion (SPB). They gathered together by the agreement with the BKDP leadership to greet and congratulate their girls-colleagues on the occasion of the International Women’s Day and to discuss further actions on recr...

In the year of 2008 the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions will mark its 15th anniversary. The leader of the BKDP Alexander Yaroshuk narrates about the gains and failings of last year and of the jubilee period and gives his forecast and plans for future.

The BKDP addressed the Deputies of the European Parliament to make Shengen visas for Belarus citizens cheaper and the procedure of getting it less complicated. - “Geographically Belarus is a European state but politically it is far away from it. Today’s cost of Shengen visa will only enlarge this distance… says the Appeal.

Today December 10, 2008 the BKDP at its regular Council meeting has adopted a Statement blaming the ongoing policy of pressure, intimidation and provocations against the democratic national trade union center.

The “Grodno Azot” Open Joint Stock Company management refused granting premises to the primary organization of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BITU), which planned carrying an anniversary solemn meeting. Alexander Radevich, the Company Director stated that under the order of the Grodno City Executive Committee 25 years and more is considered organization’s anniversary (ww...

The regular meeting of the National Tripartite Council on Labor and Social Issues (NCLSI) finally has resumed its work on November 1, 2007 after it had stood idle for nine month. The meeting was preceded by the letter of the NCLSI member Alexander Yaroshuk addressed the three of NCLSI co-chairpersons: First Deputy Prime-Minister V.Semashko, Chairperson of the FPB L.Kozik and the Chairperson of th...

The zigzags of history, no matter how incredible and mysterious they may seem, sometimes bring the destinies of two countries which are situated in different geographical zones and have different social and humanitarian traditions together. One would think what things Belarus and Myanmar (Burma) standing thousands miles away could have in common. As it turned out there are things in common. The BK...

The BKDP leader Alexander Yaroshuk addressed the National Council on Labor and Social Issues (NCLSI) Co-Chairpersons: Vladimir Semashko, First Deputy Prime-Minister, Leonid Kozik, Chairperson of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FPB) and Anatoly Kharlap, Chairperson of the Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers). The address appeared due to concerns related to ...

On the 7th of September meeting BCDTU Executive committee gave support to Belaruskalii Independent Union of Miners’ initiative of conducting protest action on the 2nd of October 2007 in Soligorsk in connection with adoption of law on professional pensionary insurance. BCDTU leading structure decided to carry out similar protest actions in all Belarussian cities in which independent trade uni...

Early June 2007 international conference “Youth Action for Decent Work” was held in Berlin. The BKDP representatives took part in it together with young trade union activists from Georgia, FNPR (), Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine and others.

The conference worked on the threshold of “G 8 Summit” in and the 10 demands of the conference (the demands ...

The General Secretary of the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ITUC) Guy Ryder addressed recently his affiliates and the Global Union Federations in view of the withdrawal of from the GSP. The aim of the address is to support the independent trade union movement of which risks finding itself under the attacks of the government. The leader of the biggest and most influential workers&rs...

Alexander Yaroshuk, Chairperson of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, believes that Belarus was included into special paragraph because of irresponsible steps, taken by the Belarusian official delegation in Geneva and provocation with counterfeiting signatures that the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FPB) has organized, www.praca-by.info.

The experts of the ILO International Labor Standards Department examined the draft Law on Trade Unions, prepared by the Government of Belarus and gave their preliminary assessment. The comments of the ILO experts set forth in the informal opinion document cannot be regarded as the final conclusions which might be done by the supervisory ILO bodies as far as the compliance of the draft law to the r...

It is only three weeks before the European Union's decision to temporarily withdraw trading preferences from Belarus in response to persistent violation of trade union rights comes into force. In this respect the BKDP Council has adopted it’s special Statement.

The Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FPB) is disseminating appeals among national trade union centers and international trade union organizations against withdrawal of from the EU Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in trade with EU countries. Apart from that, the FPB has made a draft appeal on behalf of the ILO Workers’ Group. Both documents were signed by Leonid Kozik, the FP...

The representatives of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) took part in the sitting of the tripartite National Council on Labor and Social Issues (NCLSI) at the side of the national trade unions in the last decade of January.