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5 June, 2026On 4 June 2026, trade union activists and delegates at the 114th ILC gathered in front of UN Palace of Nations near the Broken Chair monument in Geneva, demanding the immediate release of imprisoned Belarusian trade unionists. Among them was Aliaksandr Yarashuk, BKDP president, free after three and a half years in prison.
The ILC is the ILO’s annual governing body. It brings together government, employer and worker representatives from its 187 member states. The Broken Chair has become a regular gathering point for trade union solidarity actions during the conference. For example, demonstrations on Belarus were organized due to absence of any progress in the country on regular basis for a number of years.
Workers in Belarus face punishment simply for defending their rights. Since the 2020 pro-democracy movement, the government has dismantled all independent unions. It has dissolved the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) and its member organizations including the Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM), the Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) and the Belarusian Trade Union of Radio-Electronic Industry Workers (REP), an IndustriALL affiliate. Also, the Free Belarusian Trade Union (SPB) was dissolved.
Dozens of union leaders and activists have been jailed on fabricated charges, with many still imprisoned. In April 2025, global unions stepped up pressure on the Belarusian government through coordinated solidarity actions and formal letters to Belarusian embassies.
The demonstration coincides with Belarus appearing before the ILC’s Committee on the Application of Standards for a special sitting. This is a significant moment of international scrutiny. Moreover, questions are being raised in the ILO credentials committee about the credibility of the official Belarusian labour delegation. This delegation is composed of members of the government-controlled national federation who do not represent workers’ interests.
This follows the Article 33 procedure invoked against Belarus in 2023. That procedure obliges ILO member states to take all possible steps to ensure Belarus implements the recommendations of ILO Commission of Inquiry first established in 2003. Despite sustained international pressure, including a special ILC session in June 2025, the appointment of an ILO special envoy and a further Governing Body follow-up decision in March 2026, Belarus has persistently failed to act. It has not implemented the commission’s recommendations. In addition, it has refused to allow an ILO mission into the country. It has not permitted independent doctors to visit imprisoned trade unionists to assess their health.
Maksim Pazniakou, the BNP chairman, said:
“International solidarity really works, we see it today. We continue to come here repeatedly every year. All imprisoned unionists must be released. Let’s bring freedom of association back to Belarus.”
IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan, said:
“We are very happy that Aliaksandr Yarashuk is with us. The struggle has never ended and will continue until all our comrades in prison are freed, until Belarus becomes a democratic country and until justice arrives in the workplaces. We will never give up. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters.”
Aliaksandr Yarashuk, BKDP president said: “Colleagues, friends and comrades, I am very happy to welcome you here. Thank you for coming to support our friends, comrades and Belarusian trade unionists who are in jail. Thanks to your support I am finally free after spending three and a half years in prison. Let’s focus on the next step, which is to free the remaining prisoners, so that they too can join us next year.”