We urge all supporters of strong and independent unions, in all countries, to join the LabourStart campaign in support of persecuted union leaders in Kazakhstan.
Repression, made up legal charges and even physical attacks are all parts of everyday life for independent union leaders in Kazakhstan.
On 25 September 2018, a trumped-up criminal case was brought against Erlan Baltabai, leader of the Fuel and Energy Workers' Union, affiliated with the banned Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KNPRK). Now Baltabai, like other independent union leaders before him, faces criminal charges, based on the interference of the state into internal trade union affairs, hence violating ILO Convention 87. On 10 November 2018, Dmitriy Senyavskiy, leader of the local branch of the Fuel and Energy Workers' Union in the Karaganda Region, was attacked and brutally beaten by a group of unknown persons.
Together with LabourStart, IndustriALL, the Russian confederation KTR, Norwegian Industri Energi and the independent trade union movement of Kazakhstan we are proud to stand behind this campaign and urges all friends to join us in solidarity with the working people of Kazakhstan.