Slated for November 20, 2023, this international scientific and practical gathering aims to invite the EHU academic community, university partners in Lithuania and other countries to discuss international standards in the field of labour relations (including education and academic research) in order to apply them more widely in the practice of exercising the right to association, including the right to create a trade union.
EHU trains professionals, many of whom strive to contribute to the future of democratic Belarus. The crisis of the legal system of Belarus has necessitated a response from the International Labor Organization (ILO). The measures are based on Art. 33 of the ILO Constitution and applied to Belarus has as a reason the destruction of freedom of association and the monopolization of trade union activities by the State. Today, the Government, in violation of the freedom of association and private business, obliges private companies to create cells of the pro-government trade union – the FPB.
How will and should the trade union movement develop in Belarus? Can a democratic trade union appear in European Humanities University? What does freedom of association mean in the form of creating a trade union for the implementation of other rights – social, economic, civil? Can a union go on strike? Why did the ILO prepare the Violence and Harassment at Work Convention? Is it applicable at the University and do we understand the term “harassment” correctly?
Conference objectives:
- Review existing international standards and address controversial issues of implementation of obligations in the field of labor relations, including aspects of the right to strike, prevention of harassment, creation and activities of trade union organizations in Belarus in the current situation and in the new Belarus, as well as in universities.
- Discuss the role of civil society in supporting the implementation of the right to association, including the right to form a trade union in accordance with Lithuanian law: at the national level or at the EHU level on the initiative of students, teachers and staff.
- Increase confidence in the importance of respect for the rights and dignity of the individual, adherence to the principle of transparency, democratic participation and dispute resolution in labour and professional groups based on the principle of the rule of law, existing international standards (including ILO Convention C087 “On freedom of association and protection of the right to join trade unions”, C111 “On discrimination in the field of labor and occupation”, 190 “On the eradication of violence and harassment in the world of work”, etc.) and with the participation of associations, including trade unions.
The organizers of the Conference are convinced that the current crisis situation with human rights in Belarus should motivate us, students and teachers to actively use our rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of association in a trade union, in order to gain experience of democratic participation in governance of the country in the future.
Based on the results of the Conference, it is planned to adopt a joint statement by the conference participants.
The conference program is available at the following links:
- in English
- in Belarusian
- in Russian