Three years after the suppression of independent trade unions, Belarus workers keep on fighting

On the third anniversary of mass arrests in Belarus, the IUF continues to fight for the release of leaders of independent trade unions.

On April 19, 2022, the Belarus State security forces (KGB) arrested leaders and rank-and-file activists who participated in peaceful protests against the seizure of power in the country by the longtime dictator Lukashenka.

One of those arrested was Aliaksander Yarashuk, chair of the Belarus Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, formerly head of the membership organization and member of the IUF Executive Committee. Three years after this police operation, Yarashuk and many IUF comrades remain in custody, and the repression of workers' activists continues in the country.

The IUF continues to fight for their release and calls on all affiliates to:

• actively support joint actions of pressure on the Belarusian authorities;
• join the Labourstart online campaign and actively disseminate it to their members;
• through the tripartite delegations of their countries, to give full support to the democratic trade unions of Belarus in the International Labour Organization, in particular at the International Conference in June 2025.