Labor ministry has no idea how many jobs were axed by crisis?
Back on January 29, the Federation of Trade Unions issued a resolution to monitor the situation at public-sector enterprises due to the growing economic crisis. But this recommendation was posted on the web site of the union only on March 17.
The official trade unions tell their activists the main goal is to avoid job, wage or hours cuts.
The European Radio for Belarus has phoned the regional trade union organizations to ask how many workers have been fired or put on reduced-hours shifts.
Mahilyou: “We do not gather this statistics”.
Minsk: “We don’t have the exact data. We don’t gather this information”.
In Brest, they said at least that work hours were cut for 19000 workers in January alone. But they failed to provide any latest data.
Henadz Fiadynich, the leader of the independent trade union of electronic industry workers, voiced some figures to the European Radio for Belarus. He said:
“According to our estimates, almost 45000 workers were put on incomplete working shifts in February. Around 60000 were sent on leaves. There are 240-250 enterprises that have sent their staff on leave”.
At least 45 percent of enterprises in the Mahilyou region have cut working hours. The independent trade unions also have reports that job cuts are expected at Manalit and Evistar plants in the Vitsebsk region.
“We pose a question: why people do not register with unemployment centers”, says Fiadynich. “Currently, unemployment aid amounts to Br47600 or nearly 20 percent of the living minimum (50 cents per day). That’s why the majority of the jobless has embarked on illegal labor activities”.
Photo: bymedia.net
