20 May, 2010ITUA members in Tver, Russia keep fighting in courts. On April 27-28 a court hearing on the reinstatement of two union activists took place. The judge decided in favour of the company. However, on May 18 another court hearing ended in a significant victory for the union.
RUSSIA: Dmitry Kozhnev and Alexander Adrianov, activists of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA), an IMF affiliate in Russia, have a long history of court battles against the management of Tsentrosvarmash, a swivel-truck factory in Tver.
In January 2009 they were both dismissed for their union activities, and then reinstated by court. However, the management wouldn't let them actually work at the plant, sending both Dmitry and Alex on a forced vacation for months.
In March 2010 they were illegally dismissed again. On April 27-28 a court hearing on their reinstatement took place.
This time the judge decided in favour of the company, despite overwhelming evidence of the illegal nature of the dismissal. The local prosecutor's office played a key part in this, immediately taking side of the management, even instructing corporate lawyers during the breaks.
However, on May 18 another hearing took place, which ended in a significant victory for the union. Alexander Adrianov managed to prove that sending him on forced vacation for months was illegal. The court ordered the company to pay Alex a few months' wages in arrears and compensate moral harm.
ITUA claims that the strong national and international solidarity campaign helped achieve this victory. The struggle of the small ITUA local in Tver was the subject of a feature article in the latest issue of Metal World, out now.
It is one of the most important cases of government repression against unions in Russia, since Tver activists were accused of "extremism" - a decisive step in the criminalization of genuine union activities by Russian authorities. To read more go here.