World's unions intervene over Bahrain repression
17 October 2011
World's unions intervene over Bahrain repression
The world’s biggest trade union organisations today appealed directly to Bahrain’s royal family to act to reverse the prosecutions and mass sackings of those who joined pro-democracy actions in the country.
All 13 global union federations – the BWI, EI,
ICEM, IFJ, IMF, ITF, ITGLWF, IUF, PSI, TUAC, UNI, IAEA along
with the ITUC* – wrote to Bahrain’s Crown
Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to recommend urgent
action to repeal the unjust imprisonment and victimisation
that has seen medics, teachers and trade unionists jailed
and sacked.
The organisations told him:
‘The undersigned members of Global Unions, the coalition of international trade union organisations – which together represent about 200 million workers around the world – are deeply concerned about the current human and trade union rights situation in Bahrain.
Today, over 2,600 workers in both the public and private sectors have been dismissed, and hundreds more have been suspended from public sector jobs. The government has failed to reinstate the vast majority of these workers and has presented no evidence to support recent claims that it has. Some of those few that have been reinstated have had to agree to unacceptable, indeed illegal, conditions to get their jobs back, including agreeing not to join the union. The dismissals have not yet stopped. Government workers, especially those in health, education and municipal sectors, continue to be suspended or fired for their actual or suspected participation in trade union and political activity earlier this year. Numerous trade union leaders are also now facing criminal prosecution.
Below are some of the most troubling cases:
MF
At Gulf Air, the government is pursuing criminal charges against union leaders with the clear intent of undermining the union. Some 217 employees of the airline were also arbitrarily sacked. Although many have now been returned to work, we understand that they have not been reinstated in their original jobs, and union leaders have been excluded. These actions appear to be linked to previous attempts by the authorities to restructure the company, without having given any consideration to the views of the workers and of their organisations.
At DHL, the
government has started proceedings against several leaders
and members of the DHL Trade Union, who have been given
notice to attend a court hearing on 26th October. They stand
accused of violating national security.
Leaders of the
Bahraini Teachers Association, namely Mahdi ’Issa Mahdi
Abu Dheeb and Jalila al-Salman, the president and female
vice-president, were sentenced to ten and three years’
imprisonment respectively by the Bahrain’s First Instance
Court of National Security, a military tribunal. The Bahrain
Teachers’ Association was dissolved in April by the
Ministry of Social Development.
At least 68 journalists
working for two leading Bahraini newspapers, Al Wasat and Al
Bilad, were singled out for sacking, arrests and charges of
treason. Others were forced into exile in the ongoing
systematic harassment of independent media. In the
meanwhile, senior journalist Mansour Al Jamry,
editor-in-chief of Al Wasat newspaper, is on trial along
with three other senior staff charged with publishing false
information about the police crackdown, a charge which
carries a one-year prison sentence.
Today, six members of
the GFBTU executive board remain dismissed, as well as 44
members of the executive board of GFBTU-affiliated unions.
To make matters worse, the government recently unilaterally amended the trade union law in an obvious act of retaliation against the trade unions. The purpose of these amendments is clear – to further undermine the GFBTU and its affiliates and thereby eliminate an important voice for economic and social reform in Bahrain. The amendments prohibit the establishment of a general federation of labour, such as the GFTBU; empower the Minister of Labour to determine which union federation engages in national level bargaining and represents Bahraini workers at international fora; and prohibit trade union leaders found guilty of charges that lead to the dissolution of executive councils or unions from running again for five years – an obvious effort to disqualify the current leadership from holding office if convicted under the sham trials currently underway. An amendment to allow multiple unions and to prohibit unions established on the basis of religion, sect or race, while consistent with international law, we fear will be abused to deregister or undermine existing trade unions by falsely claiming they were formed on religious or sectarian lines.
Trade unions throughout the Arab World
and beyond have declared their full solidarity with their
brothers and sisters in the GFBTU and will be following
developments carefully. We, the undersigned global union
organisations and their member unions have offered our full
solidarity at all levels. We are also ready to take up
Bahraini workers’ issues in international bodies such as
the International Labour Organization.
Global Unions
urge the government to respect fundamental human and trade
union rights. All workers wrongfully dismissed must be
unconditionally reinstated, criminal charges dropped and
legal reforms repealed. We also urge you to begin a serious
process of reform and reconciliation which responds to the
demands of Bahraini trade unions and civil society,
including the full guarantee of free association and
expression.’
*BWI (Building and Wood
Workers International), www.bwint.org
EI (Education
International), www.ei-ie.org
ICEM (International
Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers'
Unions), www.icem.org
IFJ (International
Federation of Journalists), www.ifj.org
IMF (International
Metalworkers' Federation), www.imfmetal.org
ITF (International
Transport Workers' Federation), www.itfglobal.org
ITGLWF
(International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers
Federation), www.itglwf.org
ITUC (International
Trade Union Confederation), www.ituc-csi.org
IUF (International
Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering,
Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations), www.iuf.org
PSI (Public Services International), www.world-psi.org
TUAC (Trade Union
Advisory Committee), www.tuac.org
UNI (UNI global union),
www.uniglobalunion.org
IAEA
(International Arts and Entertainment Alliance), www.iaea-globalunion.org
ENDS