Arab trade unionists on trade unionism in the Arab world

Solidarity with Arab trade unionists

Speech to the ILO conference

June 2010

The General Secretary of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) made the following speech to the 99th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June. It is an interesting insight into the views and priorities of the Arab trade union movement, covering decent work, trade union freedoms, HIV/AIDS, domestic and child labour as well as Palestine. ICATU is a confederation bringing together free trade unions which belong to the International Trade Union Confederation and the state-run trade unions in less democratic Arab countries. It does not include the PGFTU of Palestine because it operates a policy of one union per country, and its Palestinian affiliate is the moribund state-run Palestinian union originally established by the PLO when it was in exile in Tunis.

Rajab Maatouk's speech

The International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) attaches considerable importance to the items for discussion at this session of the Conference, as the global economic and financial crisis continues to affect most of the Arab countries and growth rates are still declining sharply, as is clear from the fact that there has not been a decrease in poverty, unemployment, and the bottlenecks affecting the Arab labour market. The Decent Work Agenda still faces major challenges, especially in the form of serious violations of the fundamental Conventions. Trade union rights and freedoms in many Arab countries are still subject to government interference and persecution of trade union activists, and Conventions No's 87 and 98 are under threat.

We consider that the goal of eliminating poverty and unemployment and the implementation of the Decent Work Agenda can only be achieved if there are strong, free and independent trade unions, and through strengthening social dialogue and building capacity among the tripartite social partners so as to enable effective dialogue in full partnership, with the aim of achieving a degree of security and social stability which will lead to sustainable development with prosperity for all.

We call on the Arab governments to respect all the international labour conventions and step up the ratification process, to bring their national legislation into conformity with those conventions, and to abide by their reporting obligations on time.

We strongly encourage cooperation between the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) and the ILO in implementing employment programmes in the Arab States, in the certainty that such cooperation, provided that it meets with support and approval on the part of Arab governments, will produce positive and rapid results.

We stress the importance of continuing to focus on HIV/AIDS in the world of work, especially as this issue is still treated with a certain amount of diffidence in our countries, owing to customs and traditions. We call for support for strengthening cooperation with the ILO in awareness-raising programmes on the dangers of this illness among workers at the workplace.

In 2006 the ILO set an ambitious goal, that of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016, and our Confederation has already made serious efforts with its affiliates and friendly organizations in order to achieve this goal in the Arab region. But despite the positive results achieved by the global campaign against child labour, according to the Report of the Director-General, we doubt that our region has come near to achieving such results. We agree with the Director-General that 'a flagging in the worldwide movement, a certain 'child labour fatigue', must be prevented' and that the political will must be mobilized to give priority to children in national budgets and development efforts. We also ask donor countries to continue their support to the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) led by the ILO, in view of the results it has achieved in this area.

The serious and responsible discussions held in the Committee on Domestic Workers between the social partners reflect a shared concern to achieve a framework to provide protection for the rights and interests of these workers. We confirm that we will continue our efforts to defend these workers and their rights, and are prepared to cooperate with any party to achieve this goal.

While ICATU welcomes the Director-General's efforts and appreciates his mission to Palestine and the other occupied Arab territories, and the valuable report he has presented to us, we support the comments of the Arab group concerning the report of the mission, and call on the Director-General to support the six-point strategy of the Palestinian Ministry of Labour, to work towards holding an international conference to provide the necessary support to the Palestinian Employment Fund, and to refer the violations committed by the occupation authorities to the competent bodies of the Organization.

We strongly condemn the attack by the Israeli occupation forces on the freedom convoy carrying food aid and medicine to a people besieged for years under the worst forms of blockade. We call for an international convention to protect relief workers and volunteers transporting aid in such cases.

Lastly, we must call on the occupation authorities to respect and implement all the resolutions under international law, to withdraw immediately and fully from all the occupied Arab territories in Pales-tine and the Syrian Golan, and the Shebaa farms and the Kafr Shuba hills of Lebanon, and to allow the return of the displaced Palestinian people to its land, to build an independent State with Al-Quds as its capital.