Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 324, March 2001

Case No 1849 (Belarus) - Complaint date: 31-AUG-95 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 17. The Committee last examined this case at its June 2000 meeting when it requested the Government urgently to take the necessary measures to ensure a satisfactory solution, including full compensation for lost wages, for the Minsk metro workers and Gomyel trolleybus drivers who were dismissed for having undertaken strike action [see 321st Report, paras. 15-18.]
2. 18. In a communication dated 4 October 2000, the Government provided a full list of all 56 Minsk metro workers and 15 Gomyel trolleybus drivers who had been dismissed and their current employment status.
3. 19. The Committee takes due note of this information. In particular, it notes that 19 of the Minsk metro workers have now found other employment, mostly through the national employment services, while the remaining 37 have been said to have "not applied" to the national employment services. No further information is given on the efforts made to provide satisfactory employment solutions to these latter workers, nor is there any mention of any compensation for lost wages. As for the Gomyel trolleybus drivers, the Committee notes from the information provided that 12 out of the 15 workers concerned appear to have been reinstated, while three others are simply described as unemployed. Again, no information has been given on any compensation provided for lost wages following their dismissal for the exercise of legitimate trade union activity.
4. 20. The Committee is bound once again to emphasize that the dismissal of workers for taking part in legitimate strike action constitutes anti-union discrimination and recall its previous recommendation when it first examined this case in 1996 that the workers who were dismissed in connection with the strikes in Minsk and Gomyel in August 1995 should be ensured reinstatement in their jobs without delay [see 302nd Report, para. 222]. Given that six years have elapsed since these workers were dismissed, the Committee can only once again request the Government to take the necessary measures, as a matter or urgency, to ensure a satisfactory solution for the situation of the remaining unemployed workers, including full compensation for the lost wages of all those dismissed.