Posted:
30.12.2024 14:11:00
Lukashenko called on metro workers to value their place both underground and on the surface
At the opening ceremony for the new metro stations in Minsk, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko called on metro workers to value their place both under and above ground, reminding them of the restless 1990s, BelTA reports
![]()
The Head of State shared his memories about the Minsk metro. One of them was related to the decision to keep building the underground network despite the financial difficulties faced by Belarus in the 1990s. “The metro construction project was to be given momentum. I remember one of our first subbotniks (voluntary labour days) being down underground, building something in the metro,” he said.
The second memory the President shared was about an attempt of metro train drivers to strike. “I was still a very young President when your parents voted me in. And there was quite the calamity [in Belarus]. If not for the law enforcement, I don’t think we would have held on: they were overturning cars out there, and so on, and so forth. And the opposition back then was actively using the metro workers. I remember they persuaded your parents (that was a bad moment they don’t often talk about) to support the opposition and stop the metro in summer. It was punishingly hot, 30 degrees or higher, and the metro stopped. Everyone went to take the surface transport. Naturally, we didn't have enough buses, or enough anything back in those days,” he recalled.
The metro workers, Aleksandr Lukashenko said, were being paid decently in those turbulent times, 3 to 5 times higher than the national average.
“People flooded Minsk. But I said, we are not going to bow down to them. No way! If they don’t want to go to work, fine,” he went on.
But at the same time, the Head of State knew they had to get the metro running again soon, so he went to railway workers for help, and they supported him, “Considering they were my friends and that my mother used to work at the railroad. They knew their President was a railway worker, so to speak.”
“The railway management had doubts initially, saying they ‘didn’t know how to drive trains underground’, much less at 2-3 minutes’ intervals. I said, all right, let’s make it 5 minutes, but the metro has to run. In 24 hours, they were making it every 2 minutes. They got a hang of it,” the President revealed.
After a short while, metro train drivers who had been on strike, wanted to come back.
“I was in the Government house back then,” Aleksandr Lukashenko went on. “And one day, I saw a huge crowd out there. Men were going first, and women were behind them. They were wielding brooms and sticks, pushing their men forward. ‘What’s the matter?’ I said. Those were train drivers’ wives pushing their men to work. And I said, no, they don’t want to work. Let them do as they want and stay away. I refused to take them back for three days.”
“Leave if you want to! Like those fugitives are doing now. Teachers and doctors have to wash dishes. If they don’t want to, they are free to go begging. They are asking to be allowed back now. That’s why we set up a commission led by the Prosecutor General for them to petition and explain themselves to. If you didn’t blow anything up, didn’t set fires in the metro, God forbid, then come back and get to work. But if you are a lawbreaker, a criminal, then accept your punishment. That’s exactly how it was with the train drivers,” said the Head of State.
At the same time, Aleksandr Lukashenko knew he'd left the railroad without their best workers, so the metro train drivers were invited back after a few days.
“I knew those people were just confused, not all of them were bad. So, in a week’s time, I told them to come back. And those were the strongest, most solid, and some of the most loyal people I’ve ever had,” he said.
“So I now remember that time when the train drivers decided to prove to everyone that nothing can be done without them. It can! Without train drivers, without construction workers, even without the President. Life will go on. There will be someone else to take our place. Remember that and value your place, not only underground, but on the surface where we and our children have to live,” concluded the President.
The second memory the President shared was about an attempt of metro train drivers to strike. “I was still a very young President when your parents voted me in. And there was quite the calamity [in Belarus]. If not for the law enforcement, I don’t think we would have held on: they were overturning cars out there, and so on, and so forth. And the opposition back then was actively using the metro workers. I remember they persuaded your parents (that was a bad moment they don’t often talk about) to support the opposition and stop the metro in summer. It was punishingly hot, 30 degrees or higher, and the metro stopped. Everyone went to take the surface transport. Naturally, we didn't have enough buses, or enough anything back in those days,” he recalled.
The metro workers, Aleksandr Lukashenko said, were being paid decently in those turbulent times, 3 to 5 times higher than the national average.
“People flooded Minsk. But I said, we are not going to bow down to them. No way! If they don’t want to go to work, fine,” he went on.
But at the same time, the Head of State knew they had to get the metro running again soon, so he went to railway workers for help, and they supported him, “Considering they were my friends and that my mother used to work at the railroad. They knew their President was a railway worker, so to speak.”
“The railway management had doubts initially, saying they ‘didn’t know how to drive trains underground’, much less at 2-3 minutes’ intervals. I said, all right, let’s make it 5 minutes, but the metro has to run. In 24 hours, they were making it every 2 minutes. They got a hang of it,” the President revealed.
After a short while, metro train drivers who had been on strike, wanted to come back.
“I was in the Government house back then,” Aleksandr Lukashenko went on. “And one day, I saw a huge crowd out there. Men were going first, and women were behind them. They were wielding brooms and sticks, pushing their men forward. ‘What’s the matter?’ I said. Those were train drivers’ wives pushing their men to work. And I said, no, they don’t want to work. Let them do as they want and stay away. I refused to take them back for three days.”
“Leave if you want to! Like those fugitives are doing now. Teachers and doctors have to wash dishes. If they don’t want to, they are free to go begging. They are asking to be allowed back now. That’s why we set up a commission led by the Prosecutor General for them to petition and explain themselves to. If you didn’t blow anything up, didn’t set fires in the metro, God forbid, then come back and get to work. But if you are a lawbreaker, a criminal, then accept your punishment. That’s exactly how it was with the train drivers,” said the Head of State.
At the same time, Aleksandr Lukashenko knew he'd left the railroad without their best workers, so the metro train drivers were invited back after a few days.
“I knew those people were just confused, not all of them were bad. So, in a week’s time, I told them to come back. And those were the strongest, most solid, and some of the most loyal people I’ve ever had,” he said.
“So I now remember that time when the train drivers decided to prove to everyone that nothing can be done without them. It can! Without train drivers, without construction workers, even without the President. Life will go on. There will be someone else to take our place. Remember that and value your place, not only underground, but on the surface where we and our children have to live,” concluded the President.
