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Workers Quit Belarusian Plywood Plant After Deadly Accident


A photo of Henadz Kozyur, one of 14 workers who died in the October explosion at the plant, at his family home.
A photo of Henadz Kozyur, one of 14 workers who died in the October explosion at the plant, at his family home.
PINSK, Belarus -- At least 22 workers have quit a plywood plant in the southwestern Belarusian town of Pinsk since a double explosion in the plant's workshop killed 14 workers in October, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports.

One of the workers who survived the October 25 accident, Tatsyana Mauchun, told RFE/RL that she decided to leave the plant after several weeks on sick leave. She said the plant management promised to find new jobs elsewhere in the plant for all employees who used to work in the damaged workshop. But she said those jobs proved to be menial and worse than their previous duties.

Mauchun also said that the plant's management offered no apologies for the accident and made no comment when she submitted her resignation.

One of the plant's directors, Leanid Logvin, told RFE/RL that most of the workers who have quit the plant since the accident were close to retirement age. Mauchun, however, claimed that many younger workers from the damaged workshop decided to resign after their new jobs proved unsatisfactory.

The plant's director of human resources, Mikhail Halaveshkin, told RFE/RL that labor turnover at the plant has always been high, and so there is nothing extraordinary about the current situation. He added, though, that the accident in October probably had some impact.

Five workers injured in the accident remain in hospitals in Minsk and Berastse, the region's administrative center.

The plant employs several hundred workers.

Read more in Belarusian here
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