US embassy cable - 05MINSK1074

C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 001074 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/IL BOB HAGEN, EUR/UMB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/07/2015 
TAGS: ELAB, PHUM, PGOV, BO 
SUBJECT: BELARUS WILL NOT FULFILL ILO RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 
Classified by Charge Constance Phlipot for Reasons 1.4 
(B,D) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  The deadline for Belarus to fulfill ILO 
recommendations on labor rights is approaching, but Belarus 
has yet to make any improvements.  The ILO representative 
in Minsk admitted that technically, the GOB has made some 
"progress", but in reality, these recommendations are not 
realized.  The GOB has been reluctant to allow an ILO 
delegation to visit and the ministries fail to answer 
questions posed by the local ILO representation.  ILO is 
aware of the GOB's unwillingness to meet the 
recommendations and will not agree to Belarus' requests for 
extra counseling or time.  ILO is expected to support the 
European Commission's attempts to revoke Belarus' place 
under the general system of preferences.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) On July 22, Poloff met with the International Labor 
Organization's (ILO) national correspondent in Minsk 
Nikolai Tolmachev.  Tolmachev acts as ILO's liaison with 
the GOB and is one of only two ILO officials permanently 
based in Belarus.  Tolmachev highlighted the GOB's 
insincerity in fulfilling ILO recommendations on labor 
rights.  He complained that once he is successful in 
meeting government officials, they rarely give him any 
answers and constantly send him on fruitless crusades from 
ministry to ministry.  Tolmachev noted that the GOB had 
made "progress" in certain spheres, but only on paper.  In 
reality, the government rarely follows the laws it makes 
while other active laws either contradict or cancel each 
other. 
 
3. (C) For example, the Ministry of Labor agreed to print 
the ILO recommendations and policy in its internally 
distributed department journal.  Over 5,000 copies were 
passed out, but the journal was much thicker than usual and 
the ILO points were conveniently hidden in the last half of 
the publication rather than at the beginning which most 
people read.  The government was also tasked to recreate 
the National Council of Labor Issues, a three-party council 
composed of independent unions, employers, and government 
representatives that the GOB had liquidated in 2003.  In 
August, the GOB fulfilled this task, but only invited one 
lawyer from the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade 
Unions (BCDTU) as the union representative, excluding 
former representatives such as BCDTU leader Aleksandr 
Yaroshuk.  The union part of the Council was grossly 
underrepresented, but on paper, the GOB had fulfilled one 
of its ILO obligations. 
 
4. (U) On August 25, the GOB announced it had provided the 
European Commission a report on its progress in meeting the 
ILO's 12 recommendations.  MFA Spokesman Ruslan Yesin 
stated that the government has began to implement the 
recommendations and stressed that Belarus, as a member of 
the ILO, fulfills all international commitments as well as 
pursues a policy to develop constructive dialog and 
cooperation between its leadership and European 
organizations.  Belarus, however, would continue to reject 
any attempts to politicize the trade union issue. 
 
5. (C) Tolmachev refuted the GOB report on August 30, 
noting that the GOB and ILO's relationship has become even 
more stressed while the government continues to avoid 
implementing the recommendations.  ILO headquarters 
intended to send a delegation to Minsk to review the labor 
situation and witness first-hand the GOB's efforts to meet 
the recommendations.  However, according to Tolmachev, the 
GOB does not want ILO officials in Belarus.  ILO 
Headquarters sent a letter to the Minister of Labor 
requesting a meeting in the beginning of September, which 
then went directly to the Council of Ministers and then to 
President Lukashenko.  Tolmachev received a response from 
the government that no one in the ministries wanted to meet 
with such a "low-level delegation." 
 
6. (C) Tolmachev noted that the GOB continues to avoid 
solving the most serious violations in ILO agreements, let 
alone the most important recommendations.  State-controlled 
companies and factories continue to fire employees for 
their political activities, memberships in unions, or other 
spurious reasons.  The GOB has made no effort to compensate 
and/or rehire those that were let go. 
 
7. (C) Tolmachev suspects the GOB will give the ILO a 
detailed outline of the "progress" made in labor rights, 
while asking for more counseling Q a move Tolmachev sees as 
a GOB tactic to stall the ILO for a little longer. 
However, Tolmachev claimed the ILO has had enough and would 
most likely throw its support behind the European 
Commission's efforts to suspend Belarus' status under the 
generalized system of preferences.  So far, the only EU 
country not willing to support the move is Latvia, which 
has a closer economic relationship to Belarus. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8. (C) It is obvious that Belarus has no intentions of 
fulfilling ILO's recommendations.  Several union officials 
have reported increased government pressure through legal 
audits, loss of registration, firings, and unfair 
contracts, causing the few independent unions a loss in 
membership, financial support, and the inability to perform 
union duties, such as visiting work sites and surveying 
employee conditions (septel).  The ILO is aware of what is 
happening and though Tolmachev claimed the ILO supports the 
EC decision, it is still unknown how it will respond. 
 
PHLIPOT