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Miner Striking Under Ground: I Will Stay With Striking Committee

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Miner Striking Under Ground: I Will Stay With Striking Committee
PHOTO: TUT.BY

Aleh Kudzelka does not regret his deed.

On the morning of Monday, September 21, another worker of Belaruskali refused to leave the mine as a protest against what is happening in the country and at the enterprise. Aleh Kudzelka said that he would not rise to the surface until his demands were met. After more than three hours he was brought to the surface. “I don’t regret my deed, it made things much easier for me,” says Aleh Kudzelka. Tut.by talked to him after he had left the mine.

- The inconsistency of actions worked. We have certain personalities who began to bring discord, saying that this is all illegal. The general director arrived, he was booed on our doorsteps, - Aleh recalls the events. - They also gathered at our site of the 4th mine. The director came, but there was nothing to talk to him about. He kept repeating the same thing all over again. They keep saying identical stuff at all factories, all enterprises.

After that, it was announced that there would be a meeting of the complex foremen. Aleh says that he warned the foremen at his site against going there.

- It was clear what would happen there. There would be the general director, there would be the administration, there would be more of them than you, they would simply crush you morally. Some of the foremen did not go, but they were few. The rest went and were crushed. The general director rummaged through all the sites, and promised that by the end of the year there would be increased bonuses every month. Roughly speaking, he bought them. As a result, we had a bonus for the Miner’s Day, but there was nothing the next month. As I wrote in my letter, his (General Director Ivan Halavaty - edit.) promises should not be trusted at all.

PHOTO: TUT.BY

In addition to the situation at the enterprise, the interlocutor is concerned about what is happening in the country.

- It's a mess. Especially yesterday it was “fun” when they dragged a pregnant woman to a bus. It's a shock, this is absolutely terrifying,” he says.

Aleh says that initially he did not plan everything in this format - he just wanted to write a letter, publish it, and join the strike.

- But the fact is that in the same Telegram there are not so many miners themselves, - he explains. - Some don't even know what it is. Information would have passed them by, they would not have known. And so I, at least, made a little noise at my site.

Aleh says he was exemplified by miner Yury Korzun, who stayed in the mine two weeks ago, handcuffed to the equipment. However, he decided to do without handcuffs, so as not to interfere with the operation of the equipment, otherwise “they can come up with some criminal article.” But the man decided to write a letter anyway. He says that he spent a week on this, and asked his friend to publish it.

As for the protest itself, Aleh describes it as follows: in the morning after the night shift, when he and other miners were waiting in the mine for a car to leave, he “gave the guys a piece of paper with his wife's phone, where it was written what to say”.

- I asked to pass my demands to the deputy head of the mine. It was a surprise for them. They asked if I thought it all over well. Repressions have already been applied to one of them: we have people who were deprived of bonuses for the Miner's Day, contract allowances until the end of the year, and the thirteenth salary. He also fell under this order, so he asked if I was ready. But the guys got into a strike, and I joined the strike, which is not regulated by Belarusian legislation.

After that, Aleh left that place, so as not to “immediately catch the eye”.

- I prepared: I took water, some food, a spare flashlight with batteries, because the miner's lamps are enough for a maximum of two shifts. I didn’t become reckless from the start, and didn’t go into old workings, in which gas formation is possible. The device that detects gas works one shift maximum. And methane acts imperceptibly, you can simply suffocate. As a result, my boss was summoned to work in the weekend, and he found me. If not for this, they would still be looking for me, but he guessed.

It took a little more than three hours until Aleh was found. A whole delegation followed him into the mine: the head of the mine, the chief engineer, the deputy chief engineers for production, and several rescuers.

- That was fun! - Aleh laughs. - When they found me, I began to gather slowly. I knew that, if anything, they would use physical force - not they, but the rescuers. I was immediately examined in the mine: they measured my blood pressure and gave me medicine, because it was high. Then they brought me to the health center by ambulance, a cardiogram was taken, the blood pressure was measured again, and the breathalyzer was checked. Then they brought me to a neuropsychiatric dispensary, where the examination was done in the presence of a police representative. Zero, no alcohol was found. They let me go to wash, change - and then to talk to the deputy head of the police department.

Aleh Kudzelka says that by joining the strike, he expressed his opinion.

- Let the workers think whom they obey, whether it is worth following the orders of such comrades. I will stay with the strike committee. I'm ready to be fired, although I don't understand on what grounds. I don’t regret my deed, it made things much easier for me.

PHOTO: TUT.BY

Tatsiana, Aleh's wife, says that she has long seen that her husband is ready “to do something”.

- It was obvious he was experiencing some sort of stress. But he warned me only the day before. Never, not a single time, I said that he should not go there. I supported this decision, although I was worried then, and in the process, and now I am also worried. The night was ragged: I woke up, in the morning I immediately began to rummage through Telegram channels, - says Tatsiana. - When I read that he was taken out, I did not immediately know what to do: to go, not to go. But I have a small child at home, I can't leave. I decided that I would not be in time anyway, because it usually does not last long. And then they called me and said: come down, he's here.

According to Tatsiana, the possible material consequences of her husband's act for her are “somewhere out there, far away”.

- But we will not sit back, if anything, I am ready to support the family all by myself. I have many diplomas, I can find a job anywhere. We will not starve, - says Tatsiana.

The couple have an eight-year-old son, they did not tell him about the act of his dad. Aleh also has a 17-year-old daughter, Tatsiana has a 17-year-old son.

- My daughter already knows, but they haven't talked yet. And I have not yet told my son, he is an emotional young man, - Tatsiana smiles. - Tomorrow is Aleh's birthday. This is a coincidence, but if it happened this way, then we will time this act for the birthday.

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