Executive Council Praises Middle East Workers Fighting for Freedom
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The AFL-CIO Executive Council today praised the role workers and independent trade unions are playing in the popular mobilizations against corrupt, oppressive regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Meeting at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., the council said in a statement:
After enduring decades of repression exercised by governments with the support of the West, including the United States, the workers and people of Tunisia and Egypt have mobilized by the millions for democracy and fundamental rights. The AFL-CIO and the global labor movement salute the independent trade union movements in both of these countries and support their aspirations for social justice.
Read the full statement here.
Visit to Tunisia Inspires U.S. Trade Unionists
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This is a cross post from the Solidarity Center.
For three U.S. trade unionists undertaking a 10-day learning and outreach tour to the Middle East and North Africa, meeting workers on the front lines of change has been inspirational.
The trio on the Solidarity Center-sponsored trip—Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO, William (Bill) Fletcher, director of field services and education for AFGE, and Shannon Lederer, associate director for international affairs at AFT—recently completed the first leg of the three-country tour. They spoke to the Solidarity Center en route from Tunisia to the West Bank.
In Tunis, the capital, they met with the union leaders who played a key role in the movement to end the 23-year rule of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. The struggle of the Tunisian people has inspired similar pro-democracy uprisings across the region, with various levels of success to date.
Tunisian Activist: We Want Human Rights, Economic Prosperity
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After decades of being denied basic human and workers’ rights, Tunisians are now openly expressing their desire for those rights, says Tunisian activist Jamel Bettaieb. The teacher and trade unionist received the 2011 Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy in a Capitol Hill ceremony yesterday.
Bettaieb is from Sidi Bouzid, the hometown of Mohammed Bouazizi, the unemployed fruit vendor who burned himself to death after being humiliated by the police. His action ignited Tunisia’s revolution.
Conditions for workers are “very bad” right now in Tunisia, Bettaieb says, especially those who are employed in the tourism industry. The revolution has negatively affected tourism and workers are demonstrating and protesting demanding jobs and government financial support until tourism builds up again.
Read the rest of this entry »
World’s Unions Call for Democracy in Tunisia
The global union movement is reaffirming its strong support for the General Tunisian Workers’ Union (UGTT) and the Tunisian people in their courageous struggle for equality, social justice, political freedom and democracy.
The popular revolt was triggered by the Dec. 17 suicide of a young street vendor in Sidi Bouzid after authorities confiscated his merchandise. The revolt has spread rapidly throughout the country and has led to the departure of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
In a statement, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which includes the AFL-CIO, said it welcomes the fall of the dictatorship in Tunisia and fully supports UGTT ’s call for an end to corruption and nepotism and a genuine transition toward a true democracy. Read the entire ITUC statement here.
91 Unionists Killed in 2008, 49 in Colombia Alone
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A total of 91 union members were killed worldwide last year, the same number as in 2007. But more than half (49) were killed in Colombia alone, 10 more than last year, making it once again the most dangerous country for trade unionists, according to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC‘s) “Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights.”
The Colombian government has not vigorously investigated or prosecuted the killing of trade union members. At the current pace of investigations and trials, it would take 37 years to prosecute the backlog of cases. And the caseload is growing—the rate of killings, which had fallen for a few years, jumped sharply last year by 25 percent, says José Luciano Sanin, director of Escuela Nacional Sindical (National Union School), a leading Colombian think tank.
