Principles 

Principles and Objectives of the Arab Trade Union Confederation

he Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC) is dedicated to protecting the economic, social, and human rights of Arab workers—especially migrant workers and those from marginalized groups—through unified action among Arab trade unions. This collective mission is carried out by more than 20 national union centers, representing over 7 million workers across countries including Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, and Bahrain.
ATUC is committed to upholding trade union rights and freedoms, ratifying decent working conditions, and fostering labor relations based on social dialogue and collective bargaining. It also works to strengthen equality, combat discrimination, build trade union solidarity, and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
ATUC’s Core Objectives Include:
  • Defending the right of all workers to freely organize and encouraging the formation of democratic, independent, and transparent trade unions.
  • Working to unify the democratic Arab trade union movement in response to emerging challenges.
  • Promoting social justice, democracy, equitable wealth distribution, and good governance, while striving to ensure decent work and dignified living for all.
  • Enhancing labor relations to safeguard fundamental workers’ rights and improve their economic and social conditions.
  • Defending human rights and both public and individual freedoms, particularly trade union rights such as freedom of association, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and the right to strike.
  • Advancing equality and eliminating all forms of discrimination based on gender, race, religion, language, social, cultural, or geographic origin.
  • Upholding women’s right to equality and ensuring their inclusion in leadership positions within workplaces, representative institutions, and trade unions. while combating all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination.
  • Advocating for the economic, social, and cultural rights of all workers in the region, while supporting institutionalized social dialogue and collective bargaining as key mechanisms for improving labor relations.
  • Promoting Arab economic integration as a crucial step toward achieving comprehensive development in the region.
  • Combating human trafficking and all forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, forced labor, and abusive outsourcing practices.
  • Defending the rights of migrant workers, and confronting all forms of discrimination and exploitation they may face.
  • Supporting youth employment, fighting unemployment, informal work, and social exclusion, and advocating for the rights and interests of young workers.
  • Fighting against poverty, hunger, exploitation, oppression, corruption, inequality, and discrimination in all its forms.
  • Opposing child labor, protecting the rights of domestic workers and vulnerable groups, and defending girls and children who are forcibly displaced or exploited in any form.
  • Calling for the development of a comprehensive, inclusive, and sustainable development policy in Arab countries to strengthen social democracy and ensure fair distribution of national wealth, preserving the dignity of all workers and social groups.
  • Strengthening Arab and international trade union solidarity, and supporting oppressed labor movements around the world.
  • Building partnerships and solidarity with civil society organizations that share ATUC’s values and principles.
  • Defending the rights of persons with disabilities, promoting their inclusion, supporting retirees, and working to organize and protect their interests.
  • Rejecting all forms of colonialism and foreign intervention, supporting peoples’ struggles for sovereignty and self-determination, and backing Arab and global liberation movements, including the right of the Palestinian people to liberate their land and establish an independent state.