navalny (![[info]](http://klab.lv/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} navalny) rakstīja,@ 2022-08-11 13:29:00 |
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1/23 Normally, you could easily get killed in prison for something like that.
They would just lock you up in the SHU and beat you to death. This kind of behavior looks way too cheeky in the eyes of the prison administration.
They would just lock you up in the SHU and beat you to death. This kind of behavior looks way too cheeky in the eyes of the prison administration.
2/23 But so far my only punishment is the special commission issuing me a reprimand every day. I’ve also been officially "warned" against committing the crime.
All I did was form a labor union of convicts and prison workers. Seriously. And we have already achieved some victories
All I did was form a labor union of convicts and prison workers. Seriously. And we have already achieved some victories
3/23 Hi, this is Navalny, leader and founder of the labor union of citizens employed in the penitentiary system "Promzona."
4/23 I mean, why not? I'm a colony worker. A sewer. And other convicts are workers, too. And the guards are also employees of the colony. In terms of labor rights we are no different. We can form a union to protect our rights.
5/23 Those who have been following my activities know that I am a big supporter of trade unions. It's very important to push for better wages and working conditions.
We've helped unions a lot, and I know how difficult and dangerous it is to work in a truly independent union.
We've helped unions a lot, and I know how difficult and dangerous it is to work in a truly independent union.
6/23 Well, since I have urged others to do it, it is worth doing it myself, even if it is in the most dangerous place to do it, where strikes, disobedience and gatherings are explicitly forbidden.
7/23 According to the current rules, you will be locked up in the SHU for going on strike here. And most likely, they will torture you there (this, however, is not a rule, but rather a good tradition).
8/23 So, I drew up the documents and sent the notice of the establishment of a union to the director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) and the head of my penal colony.
9/23 My first reward was the wild eyes of the administration. They thought I was joking at first. And now they call it exclusively "illegal".
Then they started summoning me every day to the disciplinary committee and reprimanding me for formal reasons: uniform violations, etc.
Then they started summoning me every day to the disciplinary committee and reprimanding me for formal reasons: uniform violations, etc.
10/23 Then a whole delegation came to my barracks and solemnly handed me a "warning about an anticipated crime", implying that I was preparing it by forming a union.
It means that I am preparing it by forming a union.
It means that I am preparing it by forming a union.
11/23 Frankly speaking, the inmates were even more frightened of the union than the administration.
Every time I talk about it, my fellow murderers sadly say: "Alexei, stop it, please. Because of you they will never let us out at all, and all this will end badly."
Every time I talk about it, my fellow murderers sadly say: "Alexei, stop it, please. Because of you they will never let us out at all, and all this will end badly."
12/23 Well, joining the union is voluntary. I don't force anybody. My union will also protect the rights of those workers who don't join it 😉
But so far, every time I say the word "union," someone standing next to me, be it a convict or a cop, hurriedly adds: "one-man."
But so far, every time I say the word "union," someone standing next to me, be it a convict or a cop, hurriedly adds: "one-man."
13/23 Okay. A one-man union. Not bad either. Better than no union at all.
There are about 600,000 people sitting in prison in Russia right now. The vast majority of them are working. And it is a completely slave-like, almost free labor in horrible conditions.
There are about 600,000 people sitting in prison in Russia right now. The vast majority of them are working. And it is a completely slave-like, almost free labor in horrible conditions.
14/23 Yes, most of the workers are criminals (although there are many innocent ones), but they have to atone for their crime within the limits of the law. And work by the rules.
15/23 Do you know what my monthly wage is? 5173.04 rubles. That’s about $85 as of today.
And that's a HUGE wage. No kidding. The others in my brigade get much less.
So how can we not have a union? We need a union.
And that's a HUGE wage. No kidding. The others in my brigade get much less.
So how can we not have a union? We need a union.
16/23 And it's already making a huge difference. "Promzona" has already achieved a huge victory. We have defeated the stools. If you sit at a sewing machine for seven or eight hours a day, believe me, it matters.
17/23 According to working conditions,a sewer's workplace must be equipped with a swivel chair with an adjustable back. In reality, all convict sewers sit on stools. Mine was 42 cm high. It was a real torment,and it would guarantee a serious back condition after a couple of years
18/23 Without scandal or fuss, our glorious union entered into a constructive dialogue with the employer, the prison system. I (with the help of the ACF lawyers, of course) have legally proven that we are supposed to have chairs with backs.
19/23 At first it caused bewilderment. After all, convicts must suffer. Then they even started to lie that we weren't sitting on stools, but on chairs with backs, but then - ta-da! - they brought chairs with backs into the workshop and took the damn stools away.
20/23 Now one of the tasks of "Promzona" is to achieve the replacement of the stools with chairs with a back throughout the colony, then across the region, and then for all the sewers in Russian prisons, in the same calm and constructive way.
21/23 Basically, if life has given me a lemon in the form of a prison sentence, then I need to turn it into the lemonade of at least some useful activity for society.
I'll write about the adventures of our convict trade union.
I'll write about the adventures of our convict trade union.
22/23 And like any real trade union, "Promzona" has its own media outlet - a Telegram channel
t.me/industrial_zone. There's a feedback form there, too - if you’re a convict who’s lucky enough to have a cell phone connection, you can write to us.
t.me/industrial_zone. There's a feedback form there, too - if you’re a convict who’s lucky enough to have a cell phone connection, you can write to us.
23/23 So that's the news. I salute all the unions, working people and blue-collar workers. Long live labor solidarity! 😉
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