REP Independent Trade Union Presents Its Demands To Belarusian Authorities

The 32 short claims.

For millions of Belarusians, diligent work does not provide a decent standard of living. If you did not find a job suitable for your qualification, this means you are a parasite. Young people, in turn, are seeking a better life abroad. Having worked all their lives, having lost health, pensioners are doomed to beggarly old age, many cannot afford quality treatment, good nutrition. The purchase of housing for most Belarusians is not affordable, praca-by.info writes.

Is this the social state declared by the government?

The independent REP trade union gathered the opinions and aspirations of union members, working people of Belarus, and formulated them in 32 short claims. This is not a demand to give everything for nothing. This is a demand to comply with what is written in the Constitution of our country. It is necessary to create conditions so that people in Belarus can work freely for a decent reward, and live up to the standards of the civilized world.

How to achieve this? Seeking opportunities is up to the country's leadership. But much lies on the surface: why do we need such an army of officials and security officials, where are effective reforms, why are we constantly dependent on a foreign economy and other people's interests?

We invite citizens to unite to defend their legitimate interests. From the authorities, we demand to immediately begin to fulfill the following requirements.

LABOR, SALARY, PENSION

1. To cancel fixed-term employment contracts, to legally restore the indefinite form of employment for all employees, with the exception of those performing temporary work.

2. To abolish decrees ## 1 and 3 (the so-called decrees “on parasites”), as well as decree # 5 (“on strengthening the requirements for employees”).

3. To revise the size of the minimum consumer budget (currently the MCB is 479.88 Belarusian rubles for the able-bodied), taking into account the real needs of all categories of citizens, and the prices for products, goods and services.

4. To establish the minimum wage level of at least the minimum consumer budget (MCB) for able-bodied citizens.

5. To establish the level of the tariff part in the salary structure of at least 70-80%.

6. To equalize the rights of workers and employers. To set the limitation period for labor disputes with material requirements as 1 year (currently it is 3 months for the employee, and 1 year for the employer).

7. To set the size of unemployment benefits of at least 70% of the average wage for the last year at the previous place of work.

8. To stimulate small and medium-sized businesses by creating tax or credit incentives to create new jobs with a salary of at least the national average (1 238.7 Belarusian rubles at the end of 2019).

9. To set a minimum labor pension of at least the MCB for the able-bodied.

10. To reduce the length of the insurance pension period from 20 to 10 years.

11. To include studies in higher and secondary special educational institutions (full-time education), military service in the army, periods of maternity leave and parental leave, work to care for people with disabilities, and periods of receipt of unemployment benefits, into the insurance pension period.

12. To cancel the decreasing coefficient when calculating pensions for working pensioners.

13. To introduce a moratorium on increasing the retirement age at the level of 2019 (56 years old for women, and 61 years old for men) until reaching an increase in the average life expectancy of the population of Belarus by at least 5 years (currently 76.1 for women and 64.5 for men).

FAMILY AND HEALTH

14. To grant young families the right to one-time interest-free loans for the construction or purchase of housing for a period of at least 15 years.

15. To limit the price of 1 sq.m.of housing under construction to the amount of the average monthly wage in the country (≈500 USD at present) (excluding elite housing).

16. To provide fathers at the birth of a child with paid leave for a period of 21 calendar days.

17. To start a phased transition to insurance medicine in order to improve the quality of medical care, and eradicate corruption in health care.

18. To establish public control over medicine pricing. To stop the practice of imposing Belarusian-made drugs on patients.

19. To establish discounts for the purchase of prescription drugs in the amount of at least 30% of the total cost for people over 60 years of age, and people with diseases that require constant medication.

SOCIAL STATE?

20. To extend the benefits on payment for housing and communal services for persons of retirement age, as well as families with children with an income of less than the MCB per person.

21. To provide students of paid departments of educational institutions long-term (at least 10 years) soft loans for education.

22. To establish benefits for students of secondary specialized and higher educational institutions (full-time), as well as for pensioners and persons with disabilities at the level of not more than 50% of the total cost, on the whole territory of Belarus.

23. To bring the size of scholarships to the level of the MCB.

STATE AND SOCIETY

24. To reform the judicial system, providing for the rigor of judges of all levels and the jury.

25. To replace the permissive registration form of trade union structures and other public organizations with the notification one.

26. To ensure the unimpeded realization of the right of citizens to freedom of assembly and expression. To cancel payment for the “state services” during mass events for trade unions and other public organizations.

27. To introduce administrative responsibility for coercion to join unions, and discrimination of workers on affiliation with unions.

28. To legislatively consolidate the notification principle in the exercise of the constitutional right of workers to strikes.

29. To establish a transparent system of taxation, formation and spending of budgets of all levels, for taxpayers.

30. To cancel the road tax.

31. To ensure that citizens of Belarus exercise the right to succession and accountability to voters at all levels through free and publicly controlled elections.

32. To defend the independence of Belarus, and prevent the integration processes, which are dangerous for the sovereignty of the country and increase political, economic and military dependence on other countries.