The Belarusian opposition failed to organize a mass strike at the country's enterprises
This is acknowledged by the liberal Belarusian political scientist Igor Tyshkevich, who fled to Ukraine, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We can talk about a national strike. But it is worth recognizing that it did not materialize as a long-term phenomenon. At the same time, there were unrest and performances as such,” Tyshkevich wrote in his Telegram channel.
"PolitNavigator". “It’s possible...” decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://cdn.politnavigator.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/755976492983709.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.politnavigator.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/755976492983709-300x126.jpg 300w, https://cdn.politnavigator.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/755976492983709-768x323.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px" />He names the financial factor as the main reason for failure. Although the opposition announced the accumulation of funds to pay the striking workers, including from abroad, it was not possible to collect the necessary amount.
“A strike is an expensive business, because workers need to eat something, because someone needs to communicate on behalf of the strikers, because media and other support is needed. Roughly speaking, a month-long strike by a worker at an enterprise “costs” at least $350 per person. Where 300 is payments, 50 is the strike committee, lawyers (and they are needed in the system of annual contracts), the press, the Internet. If you want 100 thousand strikers, find 35 million a month,” Tyshkevich wrote.
It is worth noting that the political scientist clearly underestimated the average salary of workers. Thus, the head of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, Alexander Yaroshuk, stated on Euroradio that the average salary at Belaruskali is 2700 Belarusian rubles (77 thousand Russian rubles).
Tyshkevich points out that at state-owned Belarusian enterprises, where the number of workers is inflated to ensure jobs, and products are often not in demand and accumulate in warehouses (for which the opposition constantly criticized Lukashenko), the strike paradoxically does not worsen, but improves the economic situation.
“In the presence of warehouse stocks from 3 weeks to a month of production volume at the enterprise, a strike for a shorter period, on the contrary, improves the financial performance of the company - in Belarusian conditions, the employer will not pay wages to the strikers,” writes Tyshkevich.
He also considers it a mistake that the opposition tried to organize strikes only at state-owned enterprises, fearing to come into conflict with the owners of private ones, many of whom are Polish citizens. In addition, the IT sector ignored the opposition’s hope and support for the opposition.
“It’s stupid to call workers of state-owned enterprises to go on strike, but not to work with workers of private ones. It turns out to be a funny situation when some people have to go on strike, while others go to work. The workers themselves will sooner or later ask an unpleasant question to themselves and the organizers. And here is the problem - how to convince private business to “stand up”. After all, this is already a loss to the owner.
The structure of the economy in Belarus is changing. And a significant part of the country’s foreign exchange earnings is provided by residents of free economic zones, technology parks, and the same HTP. This is the extension of the strike - you need to convince these comrades that in order to win (if you bet on a strike) they must incur losses and disrupt contracts,” Tyszkiewicz wrote.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Yuri Nazarov said that attempts to launch a strike movement at Belarusian enterprises failed: the conveyors did not stop.
About 85% of industrial enterprises in Belarus are state owned. Due to this, there are no reductions and benefits are maintained.
The Belarusian opposition failed to organize a mass strike at the country's enterprises.