On December 18, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and CEO of the Norwegian company Yara Svein Tore Holsether held an online meeting to discuss repressions and working conditions at Belaruskali. The Norwegian partners have been monitoring the situation at the enterprise since the beginning of the protests in Belarus. Yara became the first Western company to speak out publicly against the violation of workers' rights in Belarus following the elections.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed gratitude to the Yara team for their firm position and condemnation of the violation of the civil rights of Belaruskali workers. She stressed the importance of Yara showing solidarity with striking workers and defending their rights, putting pressure on the leadership of Belaruskali and publicly condemning the repression.
Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara, and company representatives stated that they share the position of the Norwegian government on supporting democratic Belarus and human rights. Yara's managers are in close contact with their government and labor organizations and Belarusian human rights activists. Representatives of the company have already visited Belarus twice and met with the leadership of Belaruskali. in September and December. Holsether said that “the threshold for inadmissibility of the situation on Belaruskali has already been passed”. They will consider new opportunities to put pressure on Belarusian partners and ways to help the strikers.
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Since the start of the strike in August, 55 Belaruskali workers have already been dismissed. They received more than 330 days of administrative arrest in total. The strikers are under constant repression: they are being detained, they and their families are being put under intense pressure. Nevertheless, workers are actively joining independent trade unions and defending their civil rights, as well as the three basic demands of the Belarusian people: an end to violence, the release of political prisoners, and new fair elections.
