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TUC condemns attacks on unions in Gaza

Issue date

Mr. Mahmoud Abbas
President
President's Office
The Palestinian Authority

Dear President Abbas

Attacks on the PGFTU in Gaza

Thank you for seeing the TUC delegation when we visited Ramallah a couple of weeks ago, and thanks also for your hospitality and frankness.

I am now writing on behalf of the TUC, our General Council and our 63 unions with 6.5 million members to condemn in the strongest possible terms the rocket attack on the home of the Deputy General Secretary of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), Rasem Al Bayari on 30 January, and the subsequent bombing of the headquarters of the PGFTU in Gaza three days later.

The TUC has been informed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) - to which we, like the PGFTU, belong - that the PGFTU headquarters were attacked early in the morning of 2 February. The main entrance of the building was bombed and the radio station in the building (the Voice of Workers) was burnt down. Fortunately nobody was in the building when the attack took place.

This is not the first time that the headquarters and the union's means of communication have been targeted. A similar incident took place on 12 October.

The TUC finds it totally unacceptable that peaceful trade unionists, working hard to promote the rights of workers, must work and live in fear of their lives and that of their family members. The Palestinian Authority has a duty to ensure the personal safety of all trade unionists in accordance with internationally recognised rights, namely the right to life and freedom of association.

The TUC urges you to take all necessary measures to ensure the full safety of all PGFTU trade union officials, activists, members and their families. We also urge you to ensure respect for the premises and all other property of the PGFTU. We urge you to order a thorough investigation into this attack and the recent attacks against the home of Mr. Al Bayari and to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. The PGFTU and Mr. Al Bayari should be given proper compensation for the damages caused.
Yours sincerely
Brendan BarberGeneral Secretary

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