البيانات

This arrest is part of a long series of repressive practices aimed at restricting trade union rights that began with the publication of government decisions and circulars that impede the right to negotiate and social dialogue in Tunisia. It also comes at a time when a media campaign to vilify the UGTT is widely rampant.

The Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC), while affirming its absolute solidarity with the Tunisian General Labour Union against all these practices, reminds the Tunisian government of the need to respect the provisions of International Conventions 87 and 98 on the freedom to unionize and the right to negotiate, and Convention No. 135 on the protection of workers’ representatives, to cancel the above-mentioned circulars and to release the General Secretary of the Highways Syndicate without delay.

ATUC also recalls the historic role that the Tunisian General Labour Union has always played in the face of all the economic and political crises that Tunisia has experienced and its positions that have always been aligned with the best interests of the country, the workers and the vulnerable classes. This stance was further confirmed with its initiative to open a civil dialogue to find solutions to end the suffocating economic crisis that Tunisia is going through.

In this respect, ATUC considers that the phase Tunisia is going through requires an immediate end to restrictive practices and the opening of a dialogue with the social partners on the basis of a programme of profound economic reforms. It also calls on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to review its unfair conditions vis-à-vis Tunisia and to adopt an approach that takes into account the social benefits of all Tunisians, particularly with regard to the subsidy of raw materials, the prices of which are rising at an unprecedented rate, in order to preserve the purchasing power of all citizens, especially the vulnerable classes.