Algeria

Fellah Hamoudi, member of the Executive Bureau of SNAPAP and CGATA and president of the Office of the Algerian League for Human Rights (LADDH), was arrested on 19 February in the wilaya of Tlemcen.
Fellah Hamoudi has been continuously harassed over the past months in connection to his statements on the “Al Magharibia” television channel. The prosecutor found Hamoudi’s comments concerning the number of prisoners of conscience in Algeria offensive to the Ministry of Interior and “false or malicious”. Hamoudi was also accused of running an “unaccredited” association in connection to his position in the LADDH. His home was searched by the police on 12 January 2022, during which time his laptop and personal phone were confiscated. On 20 February 2022, the Tlemcen Court convicted him. He was fined one hundred thousand dinars and sentenced to imprisonment of three years.
The conviction of Fellah Hamoudi is one the cases from the recent wave of harassment of trade unionists. Numerous other trade union activists have been investigated by the police and prosecuted.

Trade unions in Algeria face multiple obstacles in the exercise of their activities as a result of undue and heavy restrictions imposed on the freedom to form and join unions, the constant interference by the government in their activities, and undue restrictions on 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 .

In recent years, anti-union discriminatory practices and interference in trade union affairs have been recorded, including harmful acts against union leaders and members (such as harassment, intimidation, forced renunciation of union membership, individual and group anti-union dismissals, criminal prosecutions, imprisonment, physical assault, etc.). In addition, some unions were subjected to closure or dissolution, refusal to re-register them and very excessive restrictions and requirements for affiliation.

The government announced a new proposal to amend the problematic Trade Union Law No. 90-14 and the Labour Code in order to address the long-standing comments of the International Labour Organization International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights . However, the government has yet to organise tripartite consultations in this regard.

In September 2021, a bloc of independent unions in the sectors of education, health, services and public employment agreed to organise a general 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 call on the government to initiate social dialogue social dialogue Discussion and co-operation between the social partners on matters of common interest, such as economic and social policy. Involves participation by the state where tripartism is practice. and undo the policies and practices restricting union freedoms. The “Democratic Alternative Forces” in Algeria also called for the release of more than 254 people, imprisoned by the judiciary for engaging in activity or expressing a position opposing the authorities, announced the launch of a “front against repression and to defend freedoms” and called on human rights defenders, politicians and journalists to join.

Mourad Ghedia, president of the SNAPAP/CGATA Justice Sector Workers, was arrested on 5 April 2021 and placed under a detention order in El-Harrach prison. On the date of his arrest, Mr Ghedia went to the Bab Ezzouar police station in Algiers following police summonses. He was immediately arrested and brought before a judge, with no access to legal representation. The judge placed him under a detention order without providing reasons for his incarceration. He was sentenced by the court to a six-month suspended sentence and eventually released after two months and ten days of detention after a large international campaign.

Mr Ghedia, a clerk by profession, had previously been suspended from his employment in 2012 for almost three years, along with 57 other people, for taking 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. Following complaints to the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights , Mr Ghedia and the suspended members were reinstated, and Mr Ghedia resumed his duties as registrar between 2015 and 2018 when he was again dismissed without cause.

The freedom 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 is a fundamental civil right and an essential corollary of the freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework . The dismissal and arrest of trade union leaders for reasons related to the legitimate exercise of their role violates the freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework .

In May 2021, the Ministry of National Education took a number of deterrent and anti-union measures to impede 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 of teachers and education workers at the national level, declaring that 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 was illegal and writing negative evaluations in strikers’ administrative files. The ministry even confirmed that the measures taken against the striking education staff “exceeded the wage deduction, as warning notices were sent in anticipation of their dismissal in the event of their participation to 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 ”. Many professors were afraid to enter the protest movement because of the sanctions, and only about a third of teachers responded to 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 .
Civil protection workers also demonstrated in the streets of the capital, protesting their poor material and social conditions and demanding the reinstatement of their dismissed colleagues.

The National Committee for the Defense of the Rights of the Unemployed condemned the attacks by the security forces and the use of excessive force against protesting unemployed workers that occurred as they were carrying out a sit-in in May 2021 to demand jobs and employment assistance measures.

In May 2021, Algerian firefighters went 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 to demand an increase in their wages and an improvement in their working conditions. The Ministry of Interior announced the suspension of 230 firefighters and their prosecution, considering their protests "a betrayal of the duties and responsibilities entrusted to them”.

In April 2021, the Algiers Post Corporation threatened the workers who agreed 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 with dismissal without notice or any compensation in the event that they did not return to work. The postal employees had organised a one-week 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 “the government’s delay in fulfilling its promises regarding the disbursement of grants and incentive bonuses to workers and employees”.

In April 2021, the workers of the National Agency for Entrepreneurship Support and Development launched 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 , by a decision of the national general assembly of the trade union, in protest the refusal of the management to engage in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.

The CGATA and teachers’ union SESS (Syndicat des Enseignants du Supérieur Solidaires), both independent trade unions that have been fighting to defend workers for years, are still waiting for official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. from the Algerian authorities. The latter have for years been refusing to register these two independent trade unions on the false grounds that the legal conditions for creating a trade union organisation have not been met.

Kaddour Chouicha, an executive member of the independent unions confederation CGATA (Confédération Générale Autonome des Travailleurs en Algérie), was arrested yet again on 9 December on going to a police station to retrieve his mobile phone, which had been confiscated on 24 October following his arrest during a peaceful rally. He was immediately brought before the public prosecutor to answer to around a dozen charges, all equally spurious, such as “undermining national unity, civil disobedience” and charges linked to his social media posts. The union leader was tried the very next day, on 10 December, without his lawyers having time to prepare his defence. He was sentenced, that same day, to one year in prison and a 10,000 dinar fine (about 75 euros) for “showing contempt and violence towards state officials and institutions, insulting the president of the Republic and publishing documents likely to harm the national interest”. On the same day, Kaddour Chouicha’s son Adel was struck by police officers while standing with around 50 other people in front of the Cité Djamel courthouse in a show of support for his father. He was arrested along with other young people and released in the evening after being tasered several times by police officers.

On 7 January 2020, Kaddour Chouicha was released on bail pending his appeal, which was postponed until 28 January 2020. He had been in prison in Oran since 10 December 2019, and his health had rapidly deteriorated during his detention – the union leader suffers from chronic illnesses, including diabetes and hypertension, and has to follow a strict medical treatment plan on a daily basis. The sixty-three-year-old was held in an overcrowded cell and had to sleep on the floor. On 5 January 2020, he had been urgently transferred to the hospital in Oran for treatment, and was held in the infirmary on his return to the prison.

On 3 December 2019, the Algerian authorities ordered the closure of the offices of the independent unions confederation CGATA. The measure constitutes a flagrant violation of ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Convention 87 and runs counter to the spirit of the conclusions of the International Labour Conference Committee on the Application of Standards and the recommendations of the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Mission to Algeria. The ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights has long been calling for the immediate registration of the CGATA.

Kaddour Chouicha, national coordinator of the higher education union SESS (Syndicat de l’Enseignement Supérieur Solidaire), an affiliate of the independent unions confederation CGATA and vice president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH), was arrested on 24 October in Oran while taking part in a peaceful rally. The gathering was held to press for the release of prisoners of conscience arrested for their participation in the demonstrations that began in February. Accused of participating in an “unauthorised gathering and carrying a banner calling for civil disobedience”, he was taken to the mobile brigade of the judicial police in the Dar El Bida district of Oran. Kaddour Chouicha was finally released that evening without charges. His mobile phone was, however, confiscated.

The CGATA, a cross-sectoral independent trade union confederation, once again saw its application to register the organisation rejected. The Labour Ministry rejected the application on 31 December, one day after it had been submitted, on the grounds that it failed to comply with amended Article 2 of Law 90/14 requiring federations and confederations to represent a single sector. The reasons set out in the letter of refusal were that “the founders are members of the economic sector, the private sector and the public service” and “the legal conditions for the formation of a trade union organisation by occupation, branch or sector of activity have not been met”. The CGATA has been requesting official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. since 2013.

At least 15 trade unionists, including trade union leaders Abdelkader Kawafi, general secretary of SNATEG, Zakaria Ben Haddad, general secretary of SNT ÉNERGIE, and Mezayani Moussa, a member of the SNSI, were arrested by the police and held in detention for several hours. The arrests were made during a demonstration held on 27 December 2018 to call for the reinstatement of 11 representatives of SNATEG, who had been dismissed on account of their trade union activities at state-owned energy company Sonelgaz. The demonstrators were also calling for an end to the criminalisation of trade union rights defenders’ activities and the implementation of the recommendations issued in June 2018 by the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference (ILC). The trade unionists were held at the police headquarters in Algiers for six hours and had to sign a document condemning their own behaviour before being released.

During a press conference on 12 June, a few days after the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights International Labour Conference (ILC), held from 28 May to 8 June in Geneva, the Algerian labour minister, Mourad Zemali, launched a verbal attack on independent trade union leaders Raouf Mellal, president of energy workers’ union SNATEG, and Raouf Maalaoui of public sector workers’ union SNAPAP, accusing them of being behind Algeria’s “stigmatisation” by the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Committee on the Application of Standards, which addressed several recommendations to the Algerian government in 2017 and 2018. In addition to these verbal attacks, Raouf Mellal, who has already been sentenced to 18 months in prison for whistleblowing and his trade union activities, received three summonses to appear in court before the end of July to answer to new charges.

The general secretary of the SNAPAP-CGATA, Nasséra Ghozlane, was barred from leaving the country to attend the International Labour Conference being held in Geneva from late May to early June.

On 6 March 2018, the Algerian government called on the country’s 65 accredited trade union organisations to prove their representativeness. The requirement was only announced on the website of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, and no notification was sent to independent trade unions. Only 30 organisations were able to submit the documents required (which included a list with the names of all members, their occupations and their social security numbers). According to the government, only 17 out of these 30 organisations managed to meet the criteria for re-registration. The SNATEG and the CGATA, two independent unions, do not appear on the lists published by the government. Given that it has no legal basis under Algerian law, which is very clear on how to determine the representativeness of a trade union organisation, the initiative is viewed as a move to restrict freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework .

Abdelkader Kawafi, general secretary of SNATEG, and Kaddour Chouicha, national coordinator of the SESS teachers’ union, appeared in court on 6 February to respond to charges of “defamation” and “inciting an unauthorised gathering”. The two trade union leaders had been arrested in July 2016 whilst waiting in a café for the end of the hearing of Salah Dabouz, president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH).
Benzine Slimane, president of the security workers’ branch of SNATEG, also appeared before court on 8 February, having been accused by state-owned energy company Sonelgaz of defamation for having talked about precarious work at the company and having called for an end to the sexual harassment suffered by female workers.

On 3 February 2018, the Algerian union representing online news editors, SAEPE, was informed by the wali (governor) of Algiers that its founding general assembly, scheduled for the following day, was deemed illegal, as prior authorisation had not been requested. Algerian law does not, in fact, require that such a request be submitted. The SAEPE’s preparatory committee immediately filed a formal request with the Wilaya, but the gathering nonetheless had to be postponed.

The education minister refused to negotiate with trade unionists from the CNAPESTE, both before and after the filing of 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 notice. In response to the prolongation of 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 declared on 30 January, the Education Ministry barred more than 500 teachers from the public service. The education minister also stated that the union’s action was unlawful, as 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 had been declared illegal in court. The teachers that had been stricken off were replaced during 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 , but once it was over, the Education Ministry sent the substitute teachers a message thanking them but informing them that they would not be hired or paid for their work as the law forbids the replacement of strikers. The teachers who had been stricken off were reinstated at the end of 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 .

Teachers affiliated with the Independent National Council of Teaching Staff (Cnapest) organized an open-ended 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 the Minister’s unwillingness to engage in dialogue with them regarding long-standing issues in the education sector, including the maintenance of “external recruitment” processes. In December 2017, protest movements had already been organized in several provinces (TiziOuzou, Bejaia, Skikda and Blida). As a retaliatory measure, the Ministry of Education has initiated dismissal procedures against striking teachers.

On 16 May 2017 the government withdrew the registration certificate of the National Autonomous Gas and Electricity Workers’ Union (Syndicat national autonome des travailleurs de l’électricité et du gaz - SNATEG), without providing any valid reason to justify this, ignoring the legal provisions whereby a decision to suspend or dissolve a trade union can only be authorised by the courts. On 3 December 2017, the government announced the supposedly voluntary winding up of SNATEG and froze the union’s accounts.

Halim Abora, professor at the University of Moasqar and member of the National Office of the Higher Education Teachers Union (SAS), was sued by the Dean of the University for calling on a general assembly of the SAS to discuss issues related to the mismanagement of the University. The Union organised a national protest in front of the University in solidarity. The head of the union, Mr. Kadour Shweisha, indicated that further protest movements were envisaged.

The National Autonomous Gas and Electricity Workers’ Union (Syndicat national autonome des travailleurs de l’électricité et du gaz - SNATEG) faced constant harassment and repression during the year. Since May 2017, SONELGAZ has dismissed 48 union delegates at the national, federal and wilaya (local district) level because of their trade union activities and the legitimate exercise of their 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 . A further 250 union delegates and SNATEG members have been punished by means of 10 to 15 days forced leave or have been downgraded by one or two levels by disciplinary committees. In October 2017, the whole Tizi Ozou SNATEG branch union was forced to resign after being threatened.

On 9 May 2017, trade unionist Amar Younsi of the National Union of Postal Workers was arbitrarily suspended for organizing 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 support another dismissed employee in Timzerit. According to the management, this 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 “impeded the operations of postal services”. His colleagues organised a solidarity 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 demand his reinstatement. 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 lasted 20 days. However, dialogue between the striking workers and the management of the postal services remained in deadlock as the Postal Services Directorate even refused the mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation of the Labour Inspectorate.

On 16 April 2017, the Director of the French-speaking newspaper Liberté arbitrarily dismissed all the members of the newspaper union and requested that police officers forcibly expel the dismissed unionists without obtaining a court order. Journalists at the Liberté went 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 in solidarity to demand the reintegration of their trade union colleagues.

A peaceful protest was organised by workers of the national company for electricity and gas, SONELGAZ, in front of the Ministry of Labour in Algiers. Throughout the night of 22-23 March, Trade Union House in Algiers was surrounded by police. At 6.00 a.m., four trade unionists approaching Trade Union House were arrested and detained in Bab Ezzouar police station. All buses approaching Algiers were intercepted and blocked, as were all the streets of the city centre leading to the bus station. Furthermore, workers at the headquarters of SONELGAZ, who wanted to attend the protest, were prevented from exiting the building by police officers blocking all the emergency exits. Those workers who, despite all the checkpoints, managed to reach the Ministry of Labour to demonstrate, were harshly beaten, abducted and brought to the bus station by police officers stationed in front of the Ministry.

On 22 March 2017, a peaceful march was organised by the National Autonomous Union of Sonelgaz Gas and Electricity Workers (SNATEG) in the city of Bejaia. Thousands of precarious workers participated in it to ask for a decent salary and the guarantee of the right to freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework . Despite the peaceful nature of the demonstration, police forces charged protesters (arresting 240 workers of which 30 were female) who were detained and brought to different police stations in the city. The unjustified use of force by police was of such severity that several workers were badly injured and transferred to the city hospital to receive treatment. In the attempt to hide the significant consequences that the police charge had, police officers confiscated medical certificates from hospitalised protesters.

During the night of 21-22 March 2017, at around midnight, police officers entered a hotel in Tizi Ouzou, a city about 100 km east of Algiers. They arrested and abducted directors of the National Autonomous Union of Sonelgaz Gas and Electricity Workers (SNATEG), namely the president and member of the Algerian League for Human Rights, Mr. Mellal Raouf; the general secretary, Kouafi Abdelkader; the head of communication, Chaouki Fortas, and two members of the executive board, Mekki Mohammed and Baali Smail. The trade unionists were abducted and taken to the local police station where they had all their flags, banners and posters commandeered. They reunited in Tizi Ouzou in order to attend a peaceful march the following day and it was clear that the abduction was an attempt to disrupt the march. This intention was evident when reaching Tizi Ouzou became impossible because police vehicles were blocking all streets, preventing protesters arriving from other places in reaching the city and those inside the city reaching the gathering point of the march. It is clear that the illegal arrest, abduction and detention of SNATEG leaders, as well as the hindrance to the gathering of peaceful protesters, is a violation of basic collective trade union and human rights, such as freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework and of expression.

This is just one example of numerous incidents of violence suffered by SNATEG trade unionists and SONELGAZ workers. Only a few months before (December 2016), Raouf Raouf was sentenced in absentia to six months in jail because he denounced Sonelgaz’s illegal practices of overestimating clients’ electricity bills over a ten-year period.

The authorities repeatedly sought to intimidate independent trade unions and their supporters during the social protests at the end of 2016. The independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

of public administration staff SNAPAP (Syndicat National Autonome des Personnels de l’Administration Publique) denounced the measures deployed by the authorities to put pressure on the most active trade union members: filing of complaints, wage deductions, dismissals and abusive transfers. Protest actions were repressed by the police. During a demonstration held by independent trade unions on 30 November in Bouira, south of Algiers, for example, Yamina Maghraoui was manhandled by the police and then detained along with several other demonstrators. The discontent was stirred by a new law on pensions and provisions of the draft labour code placing restrictions on trade union rights and freedoms. Independent trade unions have long been demanding a role in the labour law reform process to no avail, thus far.

On 15 December 2016, Mellul Raouf, president of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

of gas and electricity workers SNATEGS (Syndicat National Autonome des Travailleurs de l’Électricité et du Gaz), was condemned to serve a fixed six-month prison term and to pay a heavy fine for the “theft and disclosure of confidential documents”. The trade unionist had simply denounced the corrupt practices within the SONELGAZ group, involving the overbilling of over eight million Algerians. It is not the first time Mellul Raouf and his organisation have been targeted by the board of this powerful energy group and the Algerian authorities. Although SNATEGS has been registered since 2013 and is genuinely representative, it is constantly confronted with barriers to its activities. Its president was unfairly dismissed in 2013 and has been prosecuted several times since then.

Following teachers’ protests that were violently repressed by police officers on several occasions, the Minister of Education, Nouria bin Gabrit, issued an oral order directed to the national education directorates. The order requested a nominal list of the contracting teachers that participated in protests and collective actions in the previous months in order to dismiss them. Protesting precarious workers were also victims of discrimination and retaliation: they saw their seniority annulled, together with the recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of their accumulated experience that would have given them preferential placement in future bids for public roles. The teachers responded to the Minister’s threats with a reinvigorated will to have their requests heard: most of them continued the hunger 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 previously started on 5 April (when a public demonstration in Algiers was impeded), and they demanded immediate and automatic hiring with open-ended contracts in recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of their years of experience and continuous work. Nonetheless, despite continuous protests, the public bid took place at the end of 2016, causing enormous discontent among precarious workers who, as previously threatened, saw their professionalism and experience not recognised and not taken into account in the evaluation process.

On 21 March 2016, in Algiers, a sit-in being held by contract teachers in front of the Education Ministry was violently dispersed by the police. The teachers were responding to the call of the Comité des Enseignants Contractuels et Vacataires (Committee of Contractual and Replacement Teachers). The teachers, some of whom have been in their jobs for 10 to 15 years, have been demanding permanent posts for several years. The demonstrators who refused to move were beaten. According to Human Rights Watch, two women teachers were kicked by police officers. The ITUC, which lent its support to the demonstrators, reported that one of them, Fullah Jalal, had suffered a fracture to her leg. Around thirty teachers who had taken refuge at the Maison des Syndicats and spent the night there were arrested on 22 March, at dawn, and taken to the police station in Mohammedia. They were released at the end of the day.

The protest movement spread. In the Kabylie region, hundreds of contract teachers rallied in Bejaia, from where they began a march to Algiers on 27 March. Many others joined them on route. After over 200km, there were between a thousand and two thousand marchers. But on 4 April, in Boudouaou, on the outskirts of Algiers, the police forced the teachers to end their march. A number of them subsequently embarked on a hunger 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 .

These actions were strongly supported by the most active teachers’ unions.

On 6 February 2016, at around 10.30 a.m., on the orders of the Wali (governor) of Algiers, several hundred police officers surrounded the Maison des Syndicats in Bab Ezzouar, to the east of Algiers, to prevent the holding of a meeting to discuss the country’s social, economic and political situation. Several people were arrested, including Lofti Allam, president of the Syndicat National du Transport (SNATT), and human rights activists, Salah Dabouz, president of the Algerian human rights defence league, LADDH, and Hacène Ferhati of SOS Disparus (SOS Disappeared).

During 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 at the end of April at ArcelorMittal Pipes and Tubes Algeria (AMPTA), two trade union representatives were suspended and then dismissed for “incitement to violence and illegal 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”. The management’s refusal to reinstate Lofti Farah, general secretary of the UGTA-affiliated union, and Abdelghani Atil, president of the participation committee, led to a deadlock in the dispute that continued unresolved at the end of 2015.

During 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 initiated on May Day in Oran, two trade unionists (UGTA) were dismissed by the management of the tramway company SETRAM, linked to the French transport group RATP. 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 subsequently spread to Algiers and Constantine and led to the dismissal of a third trade unionist in the capital. The Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) and the International Transport Federation denounced these practices violating the labour law and trade union rights.

In June, six 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 at the national gold mining company, ENOR, in Tamanrasset, were dismissed.

During the first half of 2015, workers’ representatives at Peugeot-Algeria reported the many tactics used by the management to obstruct the exercise of trade union rights. The local UGTA branch, after receiving no response to two requests to hold a general meeting of workers, finally held the meeting outside the company’s premises on 14 March, the day prior to the election of a “participation committee” supported by the management. Acting in breach of the national legislation on labour rights as well as the provisions of the PSA group’s global framework agreement on social responsibility, it also dismissed one of the workers’ representatives.

In October, the management at transport company ETUSA suspended nine workers, including four trade unionists (UGTA), during a protest.

On 1 December, during a protest at the industrial vehicles company SNVI in the Rouiba industrial zone, anti-riot police repressed demonstrators, injuring several of them and detaining 12 workers, including one trade union representative, for several hours.

Following the establishment of a union (UGTA) in mid November at SNC BAPIVA, the company in charge of the Tizi-Ouzou cable car project, the management sacked three trade union representatives.

The International Labour Organisation, through its two supervisory bodies, the Committee on Freedom of Association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework and the Committee on the Application of Standards, has stepped up its pressure on the Algerian government. In June, the latter requested it to speed up the processing of the applications submitted by several trade unions for registration and to reinstate the public service employees dismissed on account of their trade union activities.

In a letter addressed to the Labour Ministry on 11 February, the ITUC reiterated its indignation at the discriminatory treatment of 25 court clerks who were suspended following the holding of a legitimate 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 in April 2012. The employees were reinstated but were forced to transfer and have not been able to claim their rights retroactively. The European Parliament and Human Rights Watch have denounced the repression directed at labour rights activists. In October, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EuroMed Rights) registered the unfair dismissals or suspensions of 43 members of unions affiliated to the SNAPAP and the Confédération Générale Autonome des Travailleurs en Algérie (CGATA). The CGATA, which has been affiliated to the ITUC since 2014, had still not been recognised by the authorities in 2015. Despite its undeniable representativeness in the public service, it was not, for example, invited to take part in the national tripartite dialogue in October. The refusal to accept the principle of trade union elections, moreover, makes it impossible to know the weight of each organisation, which facilitates the authorities’ discrimination of independent trade unions.

In February 2015 Human Rights Watch reported that Algeria courts had sentenced nine labour rights activists to prison since late January 2015 for engaging in peaceful protests to support unemployed workers. One, Mohammed Rag, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for “unauthorised gathering.” On 11 February, the Laghouat Court of First Instance sentenced eight members of the National Committee for the Defence of the Rights of Unemployed Workers (Comité National pour la Défense des Droits de Chômeurs, CNDDC) on the same charge to one-year prison terms, half of it suspended. The authorities had arrested all eight – Khencha Belkacem, Brahimi Belelmi, Mazouzi Benallal, Azzouzi Boubakeur, Korini Belkacem, Bekouider Faouzi, Bensarkha Tahar, and Djaballah Abdelkader – on 28 January when they assembled outside the court to protest against the trial of Mohamed Rag. The Laghouat police ordered their arrest to prevent “potential trouble to the public order.” Following their sentencing, all nine CNDDC activists went on hunger 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 lodged appeals. In April 2014, the Appeals Court of Ouargla had imposed a one-year suspended sentence on another member of the group Houari Djelouli, and fined him 50,000 dinars (about US$530). He was convicted for distributing CNDDC leaflets calling for a peaceful sit-in protest to demand the right to work that the authorities deemed “likely to undermine national interest.” Noureddine Abdelaziz, the group’s president, said that police in Laghouat arrested another CNDDC activist Tarek el Naoui at 6 a.m. on 11 February 2015, when he arrived at the city’s train station from Algiers, 400 kilometers north, to attend the trial of the eight activists. He was released without charge six hours later.

Four members of the Algeria Post Workers’ Collective (CTAP) in Mostaganem in the west of the country were sacked after taking part in 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 on 10 January 2015. Their union had called 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 after waiting months for their employer to negotiate a list of demands. They were supported by the Autonomous Postal Workers Union (SNAP) which regretted that Algeria Post had opted for repression rather than dialogue, and noted that one of the workers’ collective’s principal demands was the official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of their organisation as a trade union. The collective had submitted its application for recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. in July 2012.

On 16 August the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) issued a press release warning that independent trade unions in Algeria were still facing repression. To be legally recognised as a trade union, a workers’ organisation must hold a general assembly and submit its application to the Labour Ministry, which should respond within one month. However according to the League, 13 autonomous unions had applied to the Ministry over the last two years for recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. , and had not received acknowledgement from it. This leaves them in a vulnerable position where they are either ignored or even repressed by the employers. According to the LADDH, unions facing repression included the SNAPAP (National Autonomous Union of Public Administration Personnel), the SNAP (National Autonomous Union of Postal Workers) and the SNATEG (National Autonomous Union of Sonelgaz Gas and Electricity Workers). The SNAP had been waiting for over two years for official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. . Despite submitting its application on 2 July 2012, the organisation had not received an answer, neither recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. nor refusal, from the Ministry of Labour. Furthermore, its president, Mourad Nekkach, had been suspended from his post. Without official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. the SNAP was very limited in what it was able to do to defend its members. SNATEG was also facing difficulties, despite the fact that its union had received official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. in December 2013, and had followed all legal procedures. The General Secretary of SNATEG, Bendief Boualem, said that Sonelgaz refused to negotiate with it, the union’s president Abdella Boukhalfa, had been dismissed and all their founding members – 37 in total – were facing disciplinary procedures. They had been threatened with anything from pay deductions to dismissal, and more union members were also under threat, having already received
verbal harassment.

Whilst the concerns of Algerian public servants continue to grow as they watch their purchasing power go into free fall, state revenues cut by half in one year and await the probable drastic staff cuts, any action by independent organisations is being thwarted by the constant repression exerted by management bodies and the public authorities. The education sector has been among the worst affected.

In April, trade union activist Rezki Boubekeur, a member of the Comité National des Contractuels du Pre-Emploi et du Filet Social (affiliated to SNAPAP), was dismissed from the University of Skikda for having taken part in a protest.

On 15 June, security guards at the University Centre of Tamanrasset (CUT) used force to disperse a sit-in being held by teaching staff at the university. Eight of them were injured.

On 7 October, Ahmed Mansri, coordinator of the SNAPAP at the University of Tiaret, was arrested after the union threatened to occupy the street to make its demands heard.

On 4 December, a meeting of the National Council of Higher Education Teachers (CNES) to be held at the University of Algiers was almost cancelled when police prevented members from entering their premises. They council members had to block the traffic to reassert their right to hold the meeting.

As regards the postal sector and the authorities’ relentless attempts to obstruct the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

of postal workers, SNAP, the justice system ruled in favour of two union leaders unfairly dismissed in August 2014. The management of Algeria Poste was officially notified of the court decision ordering the reinstatement of the two trade unionists on 7 October. Despite the ruling, Tarek Ammar Khodja and Mourad Nekkache, head of communications and president of the SNAP, have not yet been reinstated.

The government has refused to register trade unions without previous authorization. While national legislation provides that unions applying for registration must be provided with a receipt acknowledging the creation of a union and that such receipt is to be issued within 30 days, several trade unions both in the private and public sector have not received a receipt.
In June 2013, SNAPAP and other unions declared the creation of the Confédération Autonome des Travailleurs Algériens/CATA (Autonomous Confederation of Algerian Workers), which has still not been registered. The union deposited legal documents required for registration as a legal trade union organisation on 9 June 2013 and according to Algerian law should have received legal recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. within 30 days. However, the union is still waiting for official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. . The Union of Higher Education Teachers in Solidarity (Syndicat des Enseignants du Supérieur Solidaires), for example, filed its application for registration on 19 January 2012. But it received no receipt at the time. The National Autonomous Union of Postal Workers (Syndicat National Autonome des Postiers – SNAP) notified the authorities three times – on 2 July 2012, on 13 September 2012, and on 3 March 2013 – but the authorities never issued a receipt. The union still lacks legal status.
In certain cases, authorities argue that the union bylaws or not in conformity with the law. For example, the Higher Education Teachers’ Union (SESS) received a reply on its request for registration in January 2012. Public authorities argued that the union bylaws were inconsistent with the provisions of Act No. 90-14 of 2 June 1990. Therefore the union changed its bylaws in line with the response from the Labour Ministry. Nevertheless, it has still not been registered. The National Autonomous Union of Workers of the SONELGAZ (Société Nationale de l’Electricité et du Gaz/National Society for Electricity and Gas) requested registration on 14 June 2012. Public authorities again argued that the union bylaws were inconsistent with the law but did not indicate the relevant sections.

Seventeen workers who were suspended from their jobs in November 2013 at a cement plant in Oggaz, Algeria, have started a hunger 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 campaign for their rights in March 2014. In late 2013, the French Lafarge cement group took over the cement factory in Oggaz, in Western Algeria, and the company immediately set about restructuring and downsizing downsizing Reduction of a company’s workforce generally in an attempt to cut costs and improve efficiency. the operation. Workers attempted to resolve the matter through collective negotiation but were not successful. Then, despite record productivity, when the company unilaterally decided to reduce the bonus payments, the workers designated six workers to represent their grievances to management and staged a protest action. These six workers were immediately suspended. A collective work stoppage ensued, and company management retaliated by suspending an additional 11 workers. The provisions of the cement workers collective agreement covering the application of the disciplinary process for suspended workers have been ignored. Despite repeated assurances, public authorities have so far refused to engage and resolve the matter.
Management of the Algerian Post in Algiers suspended two members of the Syndicat national autonome des postiers (SNAP) from their positions on 2 August 2014 without giving them the opportunity to appear before the disciplinary commission. The reasons for the suspensions are related to their trade union activities. The employer argues that the two union members were guilty of “provocation, defamation, intimidation and interference in the right to work”. SNAP believes that this suspension is aimed at silencing union members at the company who have been campaigning against corruption and nepotism and for the implementation of the collective agreement that had been agreed upon.

Authorities have blocked demonstrations, arbitrarily arrested trade unionists, and prosecuted some of them on criminal charges that appear to have little basis in fact or are based on the peaceful exercise of their union activities. On 29 September 2013, police violently dispersed a peaceful protest organised by the Contractual Workers Union in front of the government compound in Algiers and arrested 20 people.

Workers at the CMA-CGM Algeria shipping company, which belongs to one of the world’s largest container shipping groups, staged 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 in support of their demand for better pay and conditions. The strikers were asking for a pay review and the application of the allowance system.
The company’s management proceeded to unfairly dismiss union members the same day as they were scheduled to form their own union, affiliated to the UGTA (Union Générale des Travailleurs Algériens).

The management of the banking and financial services company ignored the demand of trade union members at Société Générale Algeria that a space be designated for the posting of information and notices as part of the preparations for a union election. It also ordered that posters and notices regarding the elections be taken down. Amel Bounoua, a member of the trade union, was threatened with dismissal.
These actions were the result of the company’s refusal to recognise the union, which it considers not to be representative.

The Algerian authorities prevented a delegation of 96 trade unionists and civil society activists from crossing the border into Tunisia to attend the World Social Forum in March 2013. The only reason given by border police in Annaba was that the trade unionists were on a list of people banned from leaving Algeria because of “unrest”.

North African trade unionists visiting Algeria to take part in the first North African Forum to Fight Unemployment and Precarious Work were harassed by police. Police raided the hotel where the trade unionists were staying and proceeded to arrest five Moroccans, three Tunisians and three Mauritanians, including two women. They were then driven directly to the airport and deported from the country. The trade unionists detained were due to take part in a meeting at the Maison des syndicats. Police surrounded the trade union premises early in the morning and prohibited any attempt to access or vacate the building.

In May 2013, Rachid Malaoui, President of SNAPAP, was removed from his post at the University of Continuous Education before he was about to take part in the International Labour Conference in June 2013. Several negotiations have taken place with the Minsitry of Labour and other state institution. However, no concrete steps have been undertaken to reinstate Rachid Malaoui.

Unions affiliated to the national trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. the UGTA (Union générale des travailleurs algériens) demonstrated their anger at the contempt shown by the management of state-owned enterprises in response to the workers’ legitimate demands for pay rises, the respect of trade union rights, and an end to the sanctions and legal proceedings against workers’ representatives. Marches and sit-ins were organised, including one at the end of December in the Rouiba industrial zone outside the head offices of the UGTA urging the national centre to convey their message to the employers.

The independent trade unions were fiercely critical of the government which, as in previous years, had not included them in the tri-partite negotiations in May and September. The independent unions in the education and health sectors, although highly representative, had enormous difficulty making their demands heard by the authorities. Several strikes were ruled illegal. Many trade unions have still not been recognised, or their names have been usurped by government-backed dissidents, in a bid to undermine their representativeness.

Social unrest spread to sectors usually untouched by it, such as the justice system with strikes by the clerks of court, lawyers and the communal guards, an auxiliary security force created during the war against the Islamists. As usual the authorities declared the strikes illegal and threatened sanctions against those who took part in the protest actions.

Independent unions in the education and health sectors, although highly representative, had enormous difficulty making their demands heard by the authorities. The scant progress or promises made in terms of pay, for example, were only secured after many months of protest staged in spite of the intimidation suffered at the hands of the authorities. Several strikes were declared illegal. Threats were brandished that the strikers would face mass dismissals and the unions would be de-registered. Many trade unions have still not been recognised, or their names have been usurped by government-backed dissidents, in a bid to undermine their representativeness.

Although still in gestation, a trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. , the CSA (Confédération des syndicats algériens) was formed in April by the four most representative unions in the health and education sectors, the CNAPEST (Conseil national autonome des professeurs de l’enseignement secondaire et technique), the UNPEF (Union nationale des travailleurs de l’éducation et de la formation) the SNPSP (Syndicat national des praticiens de santé publique) and the SNPSSP (Syndicat national des praticiens spécialistes de la santé publique). The confederation criticised the exclusion of independent unions from the process of revising the labour law.

In oil-rich southern Algeria, workers and their representatives complained throughout the year that the 20 or so multinational companies operating there continually flout labour legislation. However, the authorities ignored all protests by workers and trade unions. Activists who dared challenge decisions they believed to be unjust, or unsatisfactory working conditions, were frequently harassed, threatened or dismissed by their employers. It was extremely difficult for them to get their voice heard. The health of Myriem Mehdien, on hunger 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 since 10 November after being unfairly dismissed by British Gas, was causing serious concern by the end of 2009. With the support of her colleagues, she refused to comply with a radical change in her working hours. For several months, she was subjected to threats and pressure. The three-year ordeal faced by Yacine Zaïd also illustrates some employers’ contempt for trade union rights and social dialogue social dialogue Discussion and co-operation between the social partners on matters of common interest, such as economic and social policy. Involves participation by the state where tripartism is practice. (see “Yacine Zaïd in the face of injustice at Compass” in the Violations section).