MINSK, 4 June (BelTA) – The Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) is initiating an international expert evaluation of the legality of the European Union's sanctions. FTUB Chairman Mikhail Orda made the statement as he met with employees of the Belarusian air carrier Belavia on 4 June, BelTA has learned.
Mikhail Orda said: “What European countries did to Belavia once again demonstrates that the European Union completely ignores international law and legality per se. There is no investigation into the incident with [Ryanair's Athens-Vilnius] flight. There are no results. But measures have already been implemented to stop the work of the Belarusian air carrier. It directly affects lives of the people, who had nothing to do with this incident: they are virtually deprived of their jobs and salaries. The company has suffered direct damage, which is already measured in hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars.”
In his words, the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus will protect interests of workers in this situation. FTUB lawyers have extensive experience of resolving the most complicated situations regarding workers' rights. For instance, in the last five years alone FTUB inspectors helped about 500 Belarusians regain their jobs after they had been illegally fired. Employers were forced to pay over Br20 million in back pay to people. FTUB representatives also constantly participate in the work of international institutions specializing in labor matters. All kinds of mechanisms will be used to protect Belavia employees from consequences of the unfair and illegal Western sanctions.
Mikhail Orda went on saying: “An open aggression against people, against the country is in progress and can be seen by the entire international community. As a competitor we are being unceremoniously pushed out of the international market. It is being done for the sake of profit. It is in essence a usurpation of international law. UN resolutions have repeatedly underlined that no country can use coercive restrictive measures, including sanctions. The European Union completely ignores this requirement. All the decisions on introducing sanctions rely on internal documents. It is one thing when those documents affect only countries of the European Union. But it is another when they affect countries outside the European Union. Respectively international law has to work in this case. This is why we are filing a suit with the UN International Court of Justice to evaluate the legality of the actions of European countries against our workers. The international community has to respond to such a practice that is destructive for the world order. And it has to stop the aggressive policy of individual countries. The air carrier approves of the idea.”
According to Aleksandr Lipavsky, deputy chief of Belavia's aviation division, the Belarusian air carrier occupies a leading position in terms of safety among European countries. It is an official evaluation of the relevant agencies. “We employ top-qualification specialists. In this situation I would like to ask those hotheads, who decided to restrict flights: what norms of international air law or aviation safety did we break? This is why I see the application of such measures as actions of unscrupulous competitors, who are trying to remove a worthy competitor that Belavia is,” he stated.
The Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus will help the workers that may find themselves in a difficult situation due to restrictions on Belavia's flights. Financial assistance will be provided to all those in need.
