Chad

Student demonstrations were dispersed by riot police in N’Djamena on the first day of an “all-out and unlimited” strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . Two students were briefly held in detention. According to the main students’ union, the UNET, students were demonstrating in all Chadian universities to demand effective access to university services such as a university canteen, a medical centre, a library and a bus service, as well as the payment of scholarships dating back to 2016.

After the new constitution was passed by President Idriss Déby Itno in May 2018, the Chadian authorities adopted a series of new legislative and regulatory texts, including a statutory instrument governing associations. This new regulation formally bans all “regionalist or community-based associations” without providing any legal grounds or reasoning. It also maintains an earlier provision that citizens wishing to form associations must receive prior authorisation from the Territorial Administration Ministry before starting their activities. Persons who form or manage “unauthorised and unregistered associations” are liable to prison sentences of up to five years and fines of up to CFA 3 million (€4,573). In addition, the right to form or join federations is limited and subject to prior authorisation.

A peaceful demonstration held in N’Djamena by civil society organisations, including at least three major trade unions (UST, CIST and SYNECS), was quashed on 25 January 2018. The security forces, deployed very early in the morning, used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. At least three people were arrested on public order charges and for non-compliance with a banning order. Several people were injured. The minister for territorial administration, public security and local governance had banned the gathering on the eve of the march, for security reasons. Anticipating the fact that the ban would not be observed, the government cut off all internet access and sent warning messages through the country’s two main telephone operators. The demonstration was being held in protest at “bad governance, widespread injustices and the anti-social measures taken by the government”.

Security minister, Ahamat Bachir, issued an order banning a peaceful march organised by the national community teachers’ organisation Coordination Nationale des Maîtres Communautaires, affiliated to the Union des Syndicats du Tchad (UST), scheduled for 26 May 2017. The community teachers were calling for the payment of almost 36 months’ arrears in subsidy payments.

On 9 January, members of the National Security Agency (ANS), stormed the premises of the higher education teaching and research staff union SYNECS (Syndicat National des Enseignants et Chercheurs du Supérieur) and threatened to disolve the union if its members refused to end their strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action and suspend their president, Jérémie Guirayo. The threats came following SYNECS’ participation in strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action against austerity measures and the non-payment of wages, in October 2016, and Jérémie Guirayo’s decision to join the MECI (Mouvement d’Éveil Citoyen) in December 2016. The same demands had been made by the minister of higher education, who had urgently convened the members of the SYNECS executive that same day. SYNECS responded to the intimidation by withdrawing from the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and announcing the removal of Jérémie Guirayo from his post in a press release. The trade union leader was, however, reinstated to his former position during a general meeting, after having publicly announced his withdrawal from the MECI.

On 6 January 2017, the minister of territorial administration issued a statement banning all the public activities of the Mouvement d’Éveil Citoyen (MECI), a movement bringing together civil society, political parties and trade union organisations. The movement stands accused of being “unnatural”, “without legal foundation” and “conspiring with mercenaries with subversive aims based outside the country”. Five days later, the movement’s spokesperson, Dobian Assingar, who had denounced the arbitrary nature of the ban, was called in for questioning by the judicial police. After being interrogated about the activities of the MECI, he was released. Then, on 27 May 2017, the police intervened during the general meeting of the MECI, declaring the gathering illegal. The members of the MECI requested an official document giving notice of the prohibition, but received nothing.

Between December 2016 and January 2017, the Chadian authorities refused to issue visas to several trade union partner organisations such as the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and France’s Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT). On refusing for the second time to issue visas to CGT representatives wishing to give support to Chadian workers on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , the senior advisor to the ambassador of Chad in Paris reportedly said, “Trade unionists and journalists are not welcome.” These decisions are an illustration of the very tense social climate in Chad.

In December 2016, the Chadian authorities intensified the repression of trade unions in response to unprecedented social discontent. The UST and two other trade union organisations, which had formed a common front, had been heading strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action since the end of September in the public service, education and health sectors, to protest the drastic austerity measures, wages arrears and bad governance in general.

On 6 December, in the capital, a demonstration organised by the women’s committees of the three unions was prevented from going ahead when the police blocked off access to the Bourse du Travail (Labour Exchange). In Moundou, in the south of the country, another women’s demonstration was repressed. Several women were briefly held for questioning.

On 26 December, during a political meeting attended by journalists, the head of state launched into a diatribe against trade unions, threatening to have them dissolved if they continued to oppose the regime, accusing them of being on the payroll of the opposition, and getting rich off the backs of workers. Embarrassed by the virulence of the attack, the president’s entourage prohibited its broadcast by the media.

During the same period, delegates planning to travel to Chad as part of a trade union mission organised by the CGT (France) in support of the strikers were refused visas on two occasions. The government also urgently passed a new regulation undermining the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . On 30 December, the parliament approved the government’s decision to dock pay from employees’ salaries for strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike days.

On 22 March 2016, Younous Mahadjir, general secretary of the UST (Union des Syndicats du Tchad), affiliated to the ITUC, was arrested for having called for a peaceful demonstration against the decision of President Idriss Deby Itno, who had been in power for 26 years, to seek a fifth term in office. Three other civil society leaders were also imprisoned on the same grounds. The four activists were released on 14 April, a few days after the president’s re-election, after having received a four-month suspended sentence and a ban on organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. subversive activities. Public Services International (PSI) and Amnesty International had campaigned for their release.

In February, Amnesty International reported that the freedom of expression and association of human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists was regularly violated. They were routine targets of intimidation, harassment or arbitrary arrests at the hands of the security services as well as administrative fines. The Union des Syndicats du Tchad (UST), Radio FM Liberté and the Chadian Human Rights League (LTDH), which maintain close links, continued to work in a climate of repression and suspicion.

In January, in Doba, then in March in the capital, student demonstrations led to fatal police violence: four deaths in January and two in March. Teaching staff belonging to the Syndicat National des Enseignants et Chercheurs du Supérieur (SYNECS) at the University of N’Djamena were brutally attacked by police officers who forced their way onto their premises. In a damning report on the events in N’Djamena, the Chadian Human Rights League (LTDH) revealed that two people were killed, 103 were injured and over 200 were arrested, 53 of whom were tortured or subjected to degrading treatment. When the report was published at the end of March, the government responded with attempts to intimidate the LTDH.
The attacks continued. On 29 July, the three main organisations within the “Trop c’est Trop” (Enough is Enough) coalition, aimed at defending Chadians against arbitrary acts and human rights violations, announced that they were suspending their cooperation with it. They denounced that the authorities had used certain persons and associations to infiltrate the group. A few hours later, rumours were circulating that the LTDH, UST and SET had been secretly received by the head of state, who had given them large sums of money to leave the coalition. The rumours targeting the three leading civil society organisations were false.
At the end of July, LTDH, UST and SET reiterated their grave concern over the adoption of an anti-terrorism bill that would virtually cancel out the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and to protest. On 30 July, thanks to their mobilisation and that of the opposition, the law was passed but only after substantial amendment and the removal of its liberticidal provisions

Workers employed with Chinese companies operating oil fields in Bongor and Moundou went on a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to protest against management’s refusal to recognise unions. On 18 January 2014, violent clashes took place on the site Koudalwa in the area near Bongor. Workers have been struggling since April 2013 to conduct union elections and are demanding better working conditions and the resignation of the management that is not permitting them to unionise. In August 2013, the government ordered the suspension of the activities of the companies for flagrant environmental violations.

Eric Topona, general secretary of the Union des Journalistes Tchadiens (UJT), was imprisoned on 6 May 2013 and charged with undermining the constitutional order. Moussaye Avenir de la Tchiré, editor-in-chief of the Abba Garde newspaper and treasurer of the UJT, was arrested for “inciting hatred and civil unrest”.

The government unilaterally terminated a national minimum wage agreement for the public sector on 28 November 2012. The Government and the UST had signed a Memorandum of Understanding and an agreement on 11 November 2011.

The Union des Syndicats du Tchad (UST) wrote a petition criticising President Idriss Déby for corruption and impoverishing the population. François Djondang, Michel Barka and Younous Mahadjir were charged with defamation. Jean-Claude Nékim was also charged with defamation when he wrote about this incident in the N’Djaména BiHebdo newspaper. On 18 September 2012, the court of first instance condemned François Djondang, Michel Barka and Younous Mahadjir to 18 months imprisonment and a fine of 1.5 million CFA francs (2,290 EUR) for having committed a hate crime. While they plan to appeal this decision, the independence of the court has been put into question as its members were changed by a decree on 17 September 2012.

The two main trade union centres, forming a common front, denounced the government’s total disregard for the demands presented by workers. Among them is the demand for a public sector pay review, which the government had pledged in 2007 to conduct as soon as the financial situation allowed for it. The state’s resources have, in the meantime, tripled, if not quadrupled. On 11 November, after three strikes, the head of state finally agreed to meet with trade union leaders and satisfy some of their demands.