In Mosgortrans considers the letter of the trade union to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in which it was reported about mass suspensions and coercion to a medical experiment with vaccinations, to discredit the business reputation. The trade union regarded this as pressure
The State Unitary Enterprise “Mosgortrans” filed a lawsuit in the Arbitration Court of Moscow against the Interregional Trade Union of Public Transport Workers, the chairman of the trade union Yuri Dashkov told RBC (RBC has a copy of the claim). The company demands from the trade union to refute information about the mass dismissal of employees from work due to refusal to be vaccinated and “forcing them to a medical experiment”.
The date of the court session has not yet been set.
The reason for filing the lawsuit was the publication by the trade union of a letter addressed to the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov. A copy of the letter was posted by the publication “Open Media”. In the appeal, the chairman of the trade union claimed that employees of the Moscow City Transport and the Moscow Metro were being forced to be vaccinated and illegally suspended from work due to refusal, and he called vaccination a “medical experience” and a “medical experiment”. The letter stated that the cases of suspension are of a mass nature and cause discontent in the teams.
The State Unitary Enterprise “Mosgortrans” asked to recognize four fragments of the letter as defamatory. In particular, “we express our dissatisfaction with the illegal act of forcing medical experiments”, “because of the refusal of medical experiments, a tram driver was illegally suspended from work by order No. “hellip; Such cases are of a mass nature”. In addition, the company insists that the trade union withdraw the letter to Gennady Zyuganov.
RBC has contacted the State Unitary Enterprise “Mosgortrans” and the press service of the Communist Party for comment.
The requirement to carry out vaccination is not a violation of the current legislation, but is aimed at implementing the decision of the chief sanitary doctor for the city of Moscow, Mosgortrans points out in the lawsuit. The company notes that the trade union did not request a comment from “Mosgortrans”, which indicates a desire for “obvious sensationalism”.
“The information in the letter is contained in an imperative and negative form and was not checked by the defendant in any way, it is obvious that the main purpose of the defendant was to spread negative information about the public transport company,” the lawsuit says. In addition, a copy of the letter is posted on the website, which can be visited by an unlimited number of people. This, according to the company, highlights the fact of the dissemination of defamatory information.
Dashkov told RBC that he considers the lawsuit “pressure on the independent trade union”. According to him, now the trade union is preparing objections, and also plans to hold an action demanding that the pressure stop. “We don’t believe in the court, but we will fight them off,” he said.
Earlier, the Interregional Trade Union of Public Transport Workers reported to RBC about 60 complaints received about suspension from work due to refusal to be vaccinated. According to Dashkov, employees are suspended without pay and for an indefinite period of “epidemiological distress”. He noted that before the suspension of employees, they were first asked to sign an obligation on vaccination in the annex to the employment contract. The trade union announced its intention to appeal the suspensions in court.
Moscow introduced mandatory vaccination on June 16. Employers in the fields of trade and services must vaccinate at least 60% of employees with the first dose by July 15, and the second dose by August 15. Later, the capital’s Rospotrebnadzor extended the deadline for submitting information about vaccination of 60% of employees of enterprises until July 22.
At the end of June, Rostrud explained that the suspension of citizens from work due to refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 may be legal. As noted in the department, the Labor Code provides for the suspension of an employee if he violated the federal law, in particular, the law on the Immunoprophylaxis of Infectious Diseases. At the same time, dismissal for refusing vaccination is not provided for in Russian labor legislation, said the head of the Ministry of Labor Anton Kotyakov.
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