Taking to the streets in Belarus today is a brave thing to do. Riot police have used extreme violence against citizens, detaining more than six thousand. Those citizens are protesting an attempt by longtime president Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, to remain in power for a sixth term after a dubious presidential election on August 9. They refuse to accept that Lukashenko received, as official figures have it, 80 percent of the vote compared to just 9 percent for his challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has since fled to neighboring Lithuania. At least two people have died; the detention centers are full, and there are credible accusations of torture and mistreatment.

Joining a picket line is also a brave thing to do in Belarus, which has strict laws constraining industrial action. The country essentially has “no guarantee of labor rights,” noted the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a recent statement on the turmoil. But Belarusian workers are not deterred; the first unrest began on August 10 at the immense metallurgical works in the town of Zhlobin. That same day, a call went out on the Мая краiна Беларусь (“My country Belarus”) Telegram channel, urging workers to demand that their bosses support a call for new elections and an end to police violence.

Over the days since, these have escalated across the country and a variety of industries. In the capital of Minsk, trolleybus drivers went on strike in protest of the detention of one of their colleagues at a protest. Workers at a sugar factory in Zhabinka have gone on strike, as have engineers at the Minsk tractor factory.