Belarus-state-owned potash producer Belaruskali said it wants to continue its partnership with Norwegian group Yara International ASA and has confirmed it is ready to take back employees fired over their participation in political protests and strikes following the disputed presidential election on Aug. 9.
“Following a regular dialogue with Yara International, Belaruskali declares its readiness to cooperate on a long-term basis with Yara in the field of industrial safety, and is ready to accept Yara specialists on the ground to monitor production processes,” the Belarus producer said in a Jan. 20 statement on its website.
“We will continue cooperating with Yara to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of Belaruskali employees,” the company said.
“Belaruskali management has made the decision to remove disciplinary sanctions against employees who went on strike or who were involved in protests of the enterprise, and reinstate allowances and bonuses for workers who had been subject to disciplinary penalties. Previously dismissed employees can be re-employed by Belarusakali if they submit appropriate applications,” the potash producer said.
Belaruskali in November was reported to have dismissed 49 strikers, and had warned other employees that they would also face dismissal if they disregarded their work duties and participated in strikes (GM Nov. 27, 2020).
On Jan. 19, the Belarusian Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the potash producer’s strike committee against a ruling by the Minsk regional court in September that found the strike, started on Aug. 17, was illegal (GM Sept. 18, 2020).
Yara International ASA President and CEO Svein Tore Holsether in December said the continued suppression of human and workers’ rights in Belarus, as described in the recent report by the OSCE Rapporteur, was “unacceptable,” and that the current situation was “not tenable” for Yara (GM Dec. 11, 2020). He also cited recent safety incidents at Belaruskali sites as “alarming.” Holsether, who visited Belaruskali in September to make his position clear, did not say whether Yara would sever business ties with the potash producer.
The Norwegian group in a statement on its website on Jan. 21 reiterated that “it has a strong commitment” to the universal human rights agenda, including the right to strike, and backs the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in her “condemnation of human rights abuses in Belarus.”
As a long-term partner to one of Belarus’s biggest companies, Yara reminded that it has over the past months sought positive change through a close and regular dialogue with the management of BPC and Belaruskali, including physical visits to Belarus in September and December to make clear the importance Yara attaches to the ethical conduct of its business partners.
Yara said it continues to engage with a number of stakeholders inside and outside Belarus, including the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanovskaya, to evaluate how it can have the most positive impact.
Tikhanovskaya earlier this month had called on Yara to suspend its supply contracts with Belaruskali, and to support the potash workers on strike (GM Jan. 15, p. 37).
In its statement this week, Yara said its main concern remains the health, safety, and well-being of Belaruskali workers.
“Following a series of meetings between Yara and its Belarusian business partners over the past months, Belaruskali has announced steps to improve the situation for and relations with its workforce, including reintroducing allowance and bonus schemes for workers who had previously been subject to disciplinary penalties, and offering to re-employ terminated workers. The company also declared its readiness to cooperate with Yara on industrial health & safety improvements,” said Yara.
While the Norwegian group sees these steps as “positive,” it said it will continue to monitor the situation closely and expects Belaruskali to further improve the situation for its workforce, respect workers’ rights, enhance occupational health and safety, and refrain from repression of employees.
Belarus pro-democracy and a pro-human rights news site Charter 97 said on Jan. 21 Belaruskali management’s response was because they were “frightened about the termination of contracts with Yara.”