Employees at Belarusian Enterprises Are Fired en Masse According to Special Lists

• 23.11.2021, 10:55

"Optimization" is in full swing.

State-owned enterprises seem to be undergoing another wave of layoffs for political reasons. Workers from various industries report that they have been "dismissed" according to special lists. Some were included there because of the signatures for alternative candidates in the last presidential elections, others - because they participated in solidarity actions. The Reflection blog gives stories of people who have recently been fired from state-owned enterprises or are going to be fired in the near future.

"If you don't leave on your own, you'll be fired"

The layoffs took place at the National Bank. Employees say that they are fired there "quietly" - on different dates so that there is no mass character. They intend to say goodbye to unwanted workers until December 1. The KGB lists include specialists of different levels - both civil servants, technical staff, and high-class specialists who are difficult to replace. They offer to write a letter of resignation.

- People are fired for posts and likes on social networks. This list appeared a year ago. Then people were summoned to a conversation, asked to write explanatory notes, and delete posts from social networks. Some of the most active people were dismissed immediately. Now, apparently, a command has come in to fire everyone from that list. If you don’t leave on your own, you’ll be laid off. This can be formalized as restructuring - then the dismissal allowance can be withheld. They threaten to go as far as searches and detention, - said Maryna (name changed), a laid-off woman.

The employees do not know the exact number of employees on the list.

- I personally know about six. I heard that there are still lists of those who signed up for alternative candidates, but, so far, as far as I understand, they are not being touched.

"You are on the list"

Piotr, who had worked there for more than 20 years, spoke about the dismissals "for politics" in the State Committee for Forensic Expertise.

- In our organization, 10 people got on the lists for dismissal. The management does not say much about the reasons. Everyone is simply told: "You are on the list." I don’t know for sure, but they say that recently there was some kind of meeting where they voiced the list of unreliable people. Now the main reason for being fired is participation in marches. Some of those who were fired were told that they were identified by phone billing. I heard there is another list, and there are many more people on it. These are the ones who signed up for alternative candidates. For now, they decided to put this list on hold, because there would be no one left to work at all.

According to Piotr, the dismissal takes place according to the standard scheme - a person is asked to write a statement of resignation by agreement of the parties. If he refuses, they warn that he can "unexpectedly" get to Akrestsina Street, and accordingly, he will not come to work and will be fired for absenteeism.

Vasil (his data, including a photo of his work record, is at the disposal of the editorial office) has worked in one of the regional enterprises in the State Property Committee system for 16 years. His leadership summoned him in early November and asked if he signed for alternative candidates in the past presidential elections.

- When I said "yes" they gave me such a significant look that I only asked till what date. I was told that I wasn't supposed to be at the company before the 12th.

"The dismissed are experienced workers with seniority"

Layoffs also continue at Minskenergo, employees say.

- Even immediately after the elections, those who were in the precinct commission and refused to sign the protocols were dismissed. Then they fired those who went out on the street to protest against the violence - there was no need to identify them. Those who got to Akrestsina Street for a day were dismissed retroactively. Last week, management again began calling people out and asking them to write a statement of resignation. They said that a letter had come from a higher organization - Minskenergo. There are 4 people in it. I don’t know how they identified people and selected them this time since not everyone has had an administrative offense. All the dismissed people are not some drunkards but experienced workers with seniority, - said one of the dismissed Halina. She works in one of the Minskenergo branches.

According to Halina, people are now very intimidated. Especially when the date of the end of the contract is approaching. Whether to extend it or not is now being decided in a specially created department that checks employees for reliability.

"The act is not compatible with work in a state organization"

Sviatlana (the name was changed at the request of the heroine) is still working in the Republican Scientific and Technical Center for Pricing in Construction.

- The management called me, like everyone else, a week ago. I was told that, according to information from the competent authorities, I have participated in unauthorized mass events on more than one occasion. My act is not compatible with working in a government organization, so I have to write a letter of resignation. The term of dismissal is December 15. If I don't write it, they talked about dismissal under the article for truancy.

Sviatlana said that there are 6 employees of their organization on the list of the "authorities," all with a long record of work. There are unique specialists among those who are dismissed, who cannot be replaced, but they all received the same offers.

- The order to deal with the political ones before December 15 came from the ministry. Those who went to the marches last year were identified by phone billing. In principle, this was expected. Rumors about these billing lists have been circulating for a long time. A couple of weeks ago, the ministry asked for the phone numbers of all employees.

According to Sviatlana, some colleagues from other organizations talked about how their leadership tried to "fight off" unique specialists, but they had no such thing.

- Nobody thinks about the consequences, that there will be no one to work. They would then have new problems because they would not be able to meet their performance targets.

Moreover, some colleagues said that these were not all “unreliable” ones, that there are actually more of them, and they also need to be fired.

- Most of the employees pretended that nothing unusual was happening at all, some limited communication, and only a few expressed sympathy.