MINSK, August 14. /TASS/. Rallies and meetings of factory workers with the management are underway at a number of major industrial enterprises in Belarus, the main slogans being for fair elections and against violence, the Belarusian media resource Onliner reports.

A large rally is in progress at the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant. There is no strike there at the moment. The plant keeps working as usual, Onliner says.

The Minsk Tractor Plant also saw a meeting between workers and the management. The plant’s CEO, his deputy and chief of the local trade union took part. Also, a rally and workers’ meeting with the management took place at the Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant. A worker said it was a mutual initiative of the employees and the management.

A crowd of several thousand gathered on the premises of the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) for a meeting with the administration. One of the employees told Onliner the plant’s CEO promised to do his utmost to secure the release of detained MAZ workers and their relatives.

Several hundred, according to Onliner, rallied at the Grodno Azot fertilizer plant. All senior managers were present at the meeting with the workers.

Mass demonstrations, sometimes entailing clashes with the police, began in Belarusian cities in the evening of August 9 after the results of exit polls following the presidential election were announced. More protests followed throughout the next few days. There have been spontaneous rallies at industrial plants. According to police sources, several thousand people have been detained. Dozens of police and demonstrators have been injured. According to official returns, the incumbent, Alexander Lukashenko, collected 80.1% of the votes, and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, regarded as his main rival, 10.12%. Tikhanovskaya said she did not recognize the results and lodged a protest with the Central Election Commission.