WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE News Journal Update - (en) France, CNT-AIT: Anarchosyndicalisme #180 - RUSSIA: PUTIN REGIME'S REPRESSION AGAINST TRADE UNIONISTS INTENSIFIES (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Kirill Ukraintsev, secretary of the "Courier" delivery workers' union, was

arrested in April 2022 following a very popular strike movement in Moscow[1].
Since then he has been kept in prison, in defiance of Russian law which limits
preventive deprivation of liberty to a maximum of 6 months, his trial being
constantly postponed and sent to increasingly distant courts. On February 1, he
appeared in court in a small provincial town near Moscow, in Sergiev Posad, out
of public view. ---- Call for solidarity: "Freedom for Kirill Ukraintsev, union
victim of the arbitrariness of the Russian regime!"»
http://cnt-ait.info/2022/11/07/liberte-kirill/
Said Shamkhalov, another president of the "Courier" union, was arrested by police
in November, allegedly on suspicion of theft. As there was no proof (there
couldn't be!), the activist had to be released after questioning.

The union of health workers "Action" is also particularly in the crosshairs of
Power. In St. Petersburg Vladimir Baranov, anesthetist-resuscitator at
Sestroretsks City Hospital No. 40, came under pressure from the authorities: he
was summoned for questioning where he was falsely accused of drug trafficking,
after which he he was given a summons to the military registration and enlistment
office.

Early in the morning of December 21, while Baranov was at work, the police came
to his house and demanded that his wife open the door to the home. The "Action"
union claims that the police insisted that the doctor's wife let them in for a
search, threatening to break down the door, but refusing to reveal the number and
name of the investigator. The next day, Vladimir was "invited" to an
interrogation, where he learned that he was a witness in a criminal case for the
illegal production and sale of drugs (Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code of the
Russian Federation), writes the union. In all likelihood, the police raid the day
before was intended to conceal drugs at Baranov's home to forge false evidence
against him.

On leaving the police station, they tried to give Baranov a summons to the
military registration and enlistment office, but he refused it.

As soon as the "Action" trade union made an official statement to hospital number
40 in April 2021, the management declared war on it: a "series of complaints"
were immediately filed against the president of the trade union organization,
Vladimir Baranov, to the Kurortny district prosecutor's office, all of which were
dismissed after investigation. Then a criminal case was opened against Vladimir
Baranov for spreading "fake news" about the coronavirus due to an interview about
ambulance problems during COVID-19. The investigation did not reveal the
commission of illegal acts by the activist. On the other hand, thanks to
Baranov's participation, it was possible to prove an increased danger class and
reduce the working week of field staff to 36 hours.

In Bashkiria, autonomous republic of the Urals, it is the turn of Anton Orlov,
ambulance driver and regional manager of the "Action" union to be the subject of
power manipulation. He was sentenced in September 2022 to 6 and a half years in
prison for so-called "diversion of fuel" in the company where he works. In fact,
he is mainly blamed for his activism which has made it possible to obtain a
certain number of successes for workers in the medical sector in this republic.
So, in the Birsk emergency department alone, the following results were obtained:

payment of Covid premiums to paramedics and paramedics;
payment of unpaid salaries of paramedics;
Double pay for weekend work;
Maternity leave with maintenance of the same salary level.
      The "Action" union is distinguished by the use of the "work to rule" which
consists of working by strictly applying all the working procedures to the
letter, which are often excessively bureaucratic, which often amounts to
paralyzing the running a business or service out of overzealousness. (See our
brochure "FIGHTING TECHNIQUES" http://cnt-ait.info/2020/06/17/techniques-de-luttes/).

http://cnt-ait.info/2022/09/04/methods-ru/
Anton having appealed his sentence, a new trial was held on February 1st which
reduced his sentence by ... 2 months, bringing it to 6 years and 3 months in
prison! This is clearly a travesty of justice, which was delivered the day before
the announcement of a work-to-rule by paramedics to protest understaffing and
unpaid working hours. If you want to know more about the case of Anton Orlov,
watch the video "6 years in prison for a union"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA_30F6vG9w). (English subtitles included).

As we can see, this repression targets union activists who, among others, have
already organized strikes. Therefore, everything that is happening can only be
considered as the will of the Russian authorities, under cover of war, to
suppress the elements of the labor movement that still exist in this country!

Based on information from the Courier and Action unions and the Russian branch of
the AIT (KRAS-AIT)

[1]See our calls for solidarity: "Freedom for Kirill Ukraintsev, union victim of
the arbitrariness of the Russian regime!»
http://cnt-ait.info/2022/11/07/liberte-kirill/

http://cnt-ait.info/2023/02/07/russie-la-repression-contre-les-syndicalistes-sintensifie/
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