Labor strikes hit Tunisia - UGTT calls for Dec. 13th General Strike

[Le Socialiste]

Looks like things are on the upswing again:


Strikes and protests have hit volatile areas of Tunisia, including Sidi Bouzid where the Arab Spring started, as tensions rose between powerful unions and Ennahdha, the centre-right Islamist party that is the largest member of the ruling coalition.

Workers went on strike on Thursday in Kasserine, Gafsa and Sfax, Tunisia's second largest city, as well as Sidi Bouzid, where the 2010 uprising that unseated former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali began.

The closure of the largest private and public employers in those areas was called by regional branches of the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), with only small shops and cafes open for business.

Hundreds of protesters in Gafsa and Sidi Bouzid took part in marches, chanting slogans denouncing Ennahdha.

"We demand the resignation of the government," "Ennahdha has sold Tunisia," and "Long live the UGTT, the country's biggest force," the activists shouted.

The UGTT, Tunisia's main labour union with a membership of 500,000, which was the only legal union under the previous regime, said the strike achieved a 95-per cent observance rate in Gafsa, a mining region prone to social unrest.

The action was seen as a prelude to a nationwide general strike called for December 13 by the UGTT to denounce an attack on its headquarters this week that it says was carried out by armed men close to Ennahdha.

The call for next Thursday's national strike is only the third by the UGTT since its foundation in the 1940s.

Tunisia at 'crossroads'

Weeks of escalating tensions between the union and Ennahdha, culminated on Tuesday when UGTT members demonstrating at their head office were attacked by pro-government activists.

Ennahdha in turn accused the UGTT of orchestrating the confrontation.

The General Tunisian Confederation of Workers, a smaller trade union formed after the revolution and claiming some 50,000 members, said on Thursday it was in "full solidarity" with the UGTT.

The union denounced "all the hostile actions against the UGTT," and condemned those behind them, urging Ennahdha to respect "trade union freedoms".

Last week, intense clashes between police and disaffected youths in the town of Siliana, southwest of Tunis, left about 300 people wounded, after a strike and protests over poor living conditions degenerated into violence.

Ennahdha's veteran leader Rachid Ghannouchi strongly criticised the UGTT, calling it a "radical opposition" group, and charging that its calls to strike had "political and not social motives".

Clashes, strikes and attacks have multiplied across Tunisia in the run-up to the second anniversary of the revolution, plunging the country into a political impasse.

Many Tunisians feel bitterly disappointed by the failure of the revolution to improve their lives, especially in the country's marginalised interior which suffers from a chronic lack of development and high unemployment.

During last week's violence, President Moncef Marzouki said the coalition government was not meeting the expectations of its people and called for a cabinet reshuffle, but Jebali did not respond.

He warned that Tunisia was at a crossroads between "the road to ruin and the road to recovery".

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/12/2012126201050118377.html

[Let's Get Free]

Here's the statement from Mohamed Sghaier Saihi, the local leader of the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT):


Tunisia has seen waves of strikes and protests against the policies of the Islamist Ennahdha Party in recent months. In the Kasserine region, for example we saw general strikes in Majel Bel Abbès two months ago, in Thala three weeks ago, in Laayoun two weeks ago, in Sbiba last Tuesday and in Hassi Frid last week. There are almost every week demonstrations and sit-ins in Kasserine and different local areas.
The strikes are co-ordinated by leaders of the UGTT trade union federation. I am general secretary of the regional secondary school teachers’ union, which is affiliated to the UGTT, and a member of the regional executive committee of the UGTT in Kasserine province. The UGTT has 19000 members in the region across different economic sectors, and every four years they elect a nine-member regional executive which in turn elects a general secretary. Almost all of the 4000 teachers across 65 schools (preparatory schools and secondary schools) are members of the UGTT.

The UGTT played a critical role in the 2011 revolution. We led all the demonstrations, distributed the leaflets, proposed the chants and organised the mobilising meetings for the masses at which we encouraged them to stand firm. We denounced the fraud and corruption of the old regime. We were the vanguard of the revolutionary process which began long before 26 December 2010, and which put an end to one of the most repressive dictatorships.

Now we are leading the struggle again. We believe that the revolution is a long way from being achieved, and we are continuing our battle for a genuine democratic transition. We want to stop our country from returning to dictatorship, this time a more totalitarian, religious dictatorship. The progressive gains we have made must be safeguarded and consolidated. We believe that the current government cannot meet the needs of the revolution, because its religious doctrine is contrary to the principles of democracy. Ennahdha is a liberal Islamist party, supported by the White House, and its peformance during its first term in office has been terrible.
Today, the strikes across our region are demanding employment for the jobless and regional development. They have also called on the government to bring the snipers who shot protesters during the revolution to trial and to provide medical care for the wounded of the revolution and compensation for the martyrs’ families. Kasserine’s rate of unemployment is 30%, compared to a national rate of 14%. During the rule of Bourguiba and Ben Ali, Kasserine, as well as many other regions of the interior, was totally neglected. The inhabitants feel frustrated and are claiming their rights as they were the main revolutionary force which deposed the dictator.

All groups of workers and all citizens took part in the strikes. Civil society associations also brought their help. During the last general strike in Sbiba (a town 50 miles from Kasserine) all the inhabitants organized a demonstration .They chanted slogans against the Ennahdha-led government accusing them of inability to solve the problems of the country such as unemployment, lack of security, and of attempting to dominate the institutions of the state.

Trade unionists in Kasserine are co-ordinating with neighbouring areas such as Gafsa and Sidi Bouzid to make common plans for the next few months before the elections. What we fear most is that that Ennahdha will win the elections and we feel that would be a catastrophe. We would want to convince our members not to vote for Ennahdha.