Trade unions cancel May 1 rallies, marches over coronavirus
MOSCOW. April 24 (Interfax) - Trade unions intend to hold collective rallies online instead of May 1 rallies and marches, Andrei Isayev, deputy chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia and first deputy head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, said.
"Trade unions have cancelled May 1 rallies and marches due to the pandemic. I fully support the decision to change the form of May events. We all understand that it is fully objective," the faction's press service quoted Isayev as saying on Friday.
At the same time, Isayev said that "the position of Russia's trade unions is now more important than ever because the crisis associated with the coronavirus pandemic revealed all problems that we have spoken about for so many years."
In particular, the first deputy head of the United Russia faction said the State Duma is receiving, even from some enterprises and organizations where people work legally, numerous complaints that "employers are exerting pressure, demand that people take unpaid leaves or go on legal vacations, to which every employee is entitled, for the current self-isolation period."