On January 5, 2008, protests erupted in the southern region of Gafsa in Tunisia after the state-owned Phosphate Company announced the results of the recruitment competition, which was widely seen as fraudulent and rigged. The unlucky candidates who failed to secure employment at the factory as well as the representatives from the National Labour Union, the Union Generale des Travailleurs Tunisiens (UGTT) claimed that
the firm’s selection process was opaque and nepotistic. The demonstrations rapidly spread to include local residents as well as the relatives of miners injured or killed while working at the company. The government brutally cracked down on the protestors, leading to the death of two and imprisonment and torture of 300 others. Families of activists reported harassment by the authorities.
Tunisia is one of the countries with abysmal record of labour rights, but the Gafsa protests are indicative of restrictions on labour organisations throughout the region. In fact some West Asian countries do not even have formal labour rights such as the right to strike or form unions. While West Asia is not unique in its suppression of workers’ rights, the region’s robust authoritarian regimes make restrictions on labour organisation particularly severe by comparison to other regions. Click here to read more..
Like and read IIPM Think-Tank articles on facebook
