INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS (ICFTU)

ICFTU Online...
157/101001/COM-TUR

ICFTU 2001 Survey: 209 trade unionists assassinated around the world

Africa: dangerous rise in trade union rights violations

Brussels, October 10, 2001: Odette Kasal Mukaj, president of the Women's
section of the CDT disappeared in November in Kasaï. The security services
of the Democratic Republic of Congo are thought to be responsible. Forday
S.Brima and Soaman Contech, two trade unionists from Sierra Leone, were
assassinated by rebel factions during a peace march. A sign outside the
Fruit of the Loom in Salé, Morocco, reads "No trade unions". There is no
shortage of examples of the growing difficulties faced by African trade
unions seeking to carry out their activities.

"Nearly all the indicators of rights violations have doubled in Africa" said
Bill Jordan, General Secretary of the ICFTU, referring to the 2001 Annual
Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights, which reviews the state of trade
union rights violations in 40 countries on the African continent in 2000,
eight more than last year. The number of people injured as a result of
their trade union activities has doubled while the figure for those
dismissed or harassed has increased tenfold. Africa has moved up to second
place in the world for cases of harassment, with a total of 8,051 reported.

Democracy struggles repressed

Trade unions are harassed as soon as they start calling for more
transparency and democracy. In Swaziland, one of the continent's last
absolute monarchies, the trade unions are the only channel for demanding
the restoration of democracy. They are methodically targeted by the royal
administration and the strikes and demonstrations they organise are
repressed. A bill that would have restricted trade union rights,
particularly the right to strike, was finally dropped in face of the threat
of a serious loss of trading privileges. Trade unions still face many
limitations on their freedoms however. In Zimbabwe, dozens of people
opposed to President Mugabe's regime, including at least two trade
unionists, perished in the troubles that have rocked the country. The
country's national trade union centre became one of the primary targets of
repression after condemning these acts.

The Survey points to 31 countries where there are legal obstacles to trade
union freedoms. In Equatorial Guinea trade unions are simply banned. In
Sudan and Libya, only the official trade unions, closely controlled by the
authorities, are tolerated. The authorities try by every means to discredit
the unions and interfere in their affairs. In Djibouti the government tried
to obtain ILO recognition for its puppet union in place of the UDT/UGTD
trade union alliance that it has been oppressing for many years. In
Ethiopia, the government has still not relaxed its control over the national
trade union centre and has repeatedly refused to allow international
delegations onto its territory to visit Taye Woldesmiate, a trade unionist
being held in deplorable conditions on false charges of conspiracy against
the state. In Cameroon, the Minister of Labour continued to exacerbate
internal conditions within the national trade union centre, the CSTC, while
police injured several demonstrators during the May Day celebrations.

Twice as many strikes were repressed in 2000 as in the previous year, says
the Survey, a problem affecting seven out of ten African countries. In
Morocco, at least eight strikes were the target of repression and strikers
are regularly brought before the court and sentenced to prison terms. In
Senegal the police arrested day labourers in the canning industry demanding
recognition. In the Central African Republic the government tried by every
means, including violence, to undermine strikes by civil servants demanding
the payment of salary arrears dating back in some cases to 30 months.

The right to strike is also curbed by legal obstacles. Of the African
countries examined in the report, 85% restrict the right to strike, the
highest level for any continent in the world. Techniques range from the
classic extension of the notion of essential services ( in 11 states,
including Botswana, Rwanda, etc.) , to requisition orders targeting strikers
(Niger, Burkina Faso, etc. ) to cumbersome pre-strike procedures (Uganda,
etc.). In Egypt, there is an outright ban on all strikes owing to a decree
setting up a state of emergency which considers strikes as a public order
offence. In Lesotho, no strikes have been legally recognised since
independence in 1966.

In the export processing zones (EPZs), workers are constantly exploited and
their trade union rights are non-existent or ignored. In Namibia strikes
are still banned in the zones. In Madagascar workers in 250 EPZs are
regularly harassed for trade union activities, while the country's labour
legislation is completely ignored. Legislation in Mauritius is not
sufficient to protect workers from regular acts of intimidation by their
employers.

The entire survey 2001 is available on the ICFTU website:
http://www.icftu.org/survey2001.asp

For further information please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
224 0232 or +32 476 62 10 18.