Copenhagen, October 20th, 2015 – EuroMed Rights deeply regrets that the recent visit to Algeria by the Director-General of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Mr. Guy Ryder, had no effect other than to support the tripartite meeting between the government, the employers’ federation and the General Union of Algerian Workers (GUAW). Independent trade unions are still excluded, in infringement of the principle of trade union pluralism.
In a letter (only available in French) sent on the occasion of this visit, EuroMed Rights had called on Mr. Ryder to exhort the Algerian authorities to immediately implement the recommendations of the ILO Conference Committee on the Application of Standards, which examined Algeria in June this year for the second consecutive time for non-compliance with the Convention (n° 87) concerning freedom of association and protection of the right to organise.
However, although the visit led to the signing of an “agreement between Algeria and the International Labor Office relating to the financing program for south-south cooperation with regard to dialogue and social protection,” the director of the ILO, on the same occasion, “congratulated himself on the level of maturity of the different players [at the tripartite meeting] in the socio-economic development of Algeria,” according to the Algerian official press agency (APS). No official declaration by the Director of the ILO was published either before or after his visit to Algeria.
EuroMed Rights wishes to express its solidarity with the trade unionists who are affiliated to the National Autonomous Union of Public Administration Staff (SNAPAP), which is a member of EuroMed Rights, and to the General Autonomous Confederation for Algerian Workers (CGATA), who are still subject to arbitrary suspensions and dismissals due to their activism and independance.
EuroMed Rights reiterates its call to the Algerian authorities in order to:
- immediately implement the recommendations made by the Commission to apply the standards of the ILO;
- put an end to acts of criminalization and harassment of independent trade unionists in the public and private sectors;
- guarantee the right to form trade unions and enable a plurality of players to express themselves and participate in social dialogue, in accordance with the international commitments of Algeria.