Helsinki (01.02.2003 - Juhani Artto) The Belorussian journalist Aliaksandr Starykevich visited Helsinki in January, just a few months after his previous visit. Developing co-operation with the Finnish trade union movement has been high on the agenda of these visits. In his home country of Belarus the independent, democratic trade union movement faces a difficult situation that deserves urgent and effective international solidarity.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko governs this country of ten million people in the style of a dictator, with elections serving merely as a smoke screen barely concealing the undemocratic reality. Aliaksandr Starykevich himself has been one of the victims of Lukashenko's rule. The opposition candidate in the 2001 presidential election was Vladimir Gontsharik, who at that time led the major union federation FTUB (FPB in Belorussian).
Since then Lukashenko and his assistants have worked hard to suppress opposition from the FTUB leadership, and succeeded in summer 2002. Three weeks later the new FTUB President Leonid Kozik dismissed Starykevich from his post as Editor-in-Chief of the FTUB publication Belaruski Chas. Until this time the paper was the most important independent media channel in Belarus.
In January 2003 – just a few days before Starykevich visited Helsinki – six more journalists lost their jobs at Belaruski Chas. Defenders of Belorussian press freedom insist that these dismissals were motivated by political reasons.
New publication soon to appear
Starykevich maintains that the Lukashenko regime is gradually hampering the ability of opposition-minded people to maintain independent organisations. The independent existence of the small trade union centre BKDP (known as the Congress) is also under threat. Starykevich believes that Lukashenko aims to eliminate this organisation through a merger with the FTUB. The rent for the BKDP office premises was recently raised ten-fold.
Starykevich is working to set up a new independent paper, which he insists will co-operate with all democratic forces in Belarus, including those FTUB unions that adhere to a democratic line. Starykevich promises that the first edition will appear in the first half of 2003, and will be printed in Belarus. "In spite of everything, the state of rights in Belarus is not as bad as in some other countries."
Not everything has gone as Lukashenko and his cronies have planned. In Helsinki Starykevich was able to report that the air traffic controllers union had just decided to join the BKDP. "This will probably increase attacks against the BKDP," commented the award-winning Belorussian journalist.
Almost half of the population living below the poverty line
Lack of democracy has been a drag anchor on the economy. Between 1990 and 2000 the per capita GNP fell by an average of 1.4 per cent annually. The latest UNDP estimate suggests that 42 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. "Our middle class is small, and a large majority live in poverty," Starykevich says.
"Social conditions have also deteriorated gradually. The administration applies such tactics to avoid mass reaction against the decisions that undermine living conditions. For example, this is the way in which pensions were cut recently."
Wage arrears are a serious problem: "in many cases enterprises really do not have the money to pay." A presidential decree ordered employers to pay their wage arrears by the end of 2002, and many enterprises borrowed money to comply with this edict. Some businesses have paid their employees in kind. Collective agreements exist, but they are not applied. "Not at all," stresses Starykevich.
He also notes that in most cases the problem implies no lack of good will on the part of employers: "A sizeable proportion of business managers are socially minded."
Very few investments are made. Foreign investors tend rather to withdraw than to increase their commitment. "This trend will be reversed when the economy and society as a whole becomes free. There is considerable economic potential in Belarus," Starykevich comments, referring especially to hi-tech industries and tourism. The geographical location of the country on the transit route between Russia and Western Europe also provides business opportunities.