The Industrial Global Union filed a complaint to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) against the giant US company the General Electric (GE) and its direct link to abuses and serious and continuing violations against workers in Algeria.
The Industrial Global Union and the National Union of Electricity and Gas Workers Union, which is a member of the Union, filed a complaint with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) after the GE’s failure to address the human rights violations related to its partnership with Algeria's state-owned National Energy and Gas Company (Sonelgaz), which value of investments amounts to billions of dollars.
Since 2013, hundreds of members of the National Union of Electricity and Gas Workers have been harassed, threatened, shot or disciplined for their trade union activity I Sonelgaz, and have resorted to the judicial system against 1114 union members for participating in the 2017 strike.
The head of the National Union of Electricity and Gas Workers, Mr. Malal Raouf, was sentenced to 18 months in prison with a fine of 10 000 euros (12 300 US dollars) for seven fake charges, in addition to his dismissed from Sonelgaz for his trade union activities.
The sentence also included a six-month prison sentence for revealing the illegal electricity payments from Sonelgaz for ten years, affecting eight million families in Algeria. Thus, Malal was forced to move to a secret address to avoid harassment and intimidation by the authorities.
“Abdelkader Kawafy,” the Secretary-General of the union, was convicted and sentenced to three months' imprisonment for his press statements, in which he spoke of the poor work within Sonelgaz. Moreover, the fining of one of the union's leaders, “Ben Zain Salman”, the head of the security and protection department of the union, who was also sentenced to prison. He was arbitrarily prosecuted by Sonelgaz in four arbitrary cases. According to the National Union, Sonelgaz has been charged with libel because it called for an end to the sexual harassment of female workers.
The ILO has documented these arbitrary practices and has expressed serious concern about the trade union repression of "Sonelgaz" and the Algerian government.
It is noteworthy that the ILO mission abandoned its planned visit to the country in February, after the government’s refusal to hold meetings with the National Union of Electricity and Gas Workers and other independent unions in the country.
#Algeria #Industrial_Global_Union #complaint #General_Electric
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