Congo, Republic of

Amour Anaclet SINGOU, a trade unionist and president of the law faculty students’ union, the ULEFD, was arrested on 15 February 2018, after the coalition of student unions at the Marien Ngouabi University published a note demanding respect for their rights and calling 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 action. Three other student union representatives, Bouet Beranger, Nelson Apanga and Yobi Pagel, were also arrested between 9 and 15 February and held at the General Directorate of National Surveillance (DGST). After being transferred, on 2 March, to the Brazzaville remand centre, they were finally released on 16 March 2018 thanks to a strong campaign led by civil society organisations.

Dominique Ntsienkoulou, a member of the CRPE (trade union coalition for the improvement of the teaching profession), who took part in the teachers’ 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 the target of an attempted abduction by the police on 9 April 2013. Having failed to find him at home, the police officers went to his sister’s house, which they searched, taking all the jewellery and money they found. Mr. Ntsienkoulou was not able to recover the belongings.

During the night of 4 to 5 June, the trade unionist was awoken from his sleep by agents of the Departmental Territorial Surveillance Directorate (DDST). He was driven to the DDST headquarters without being informed of the grounds for his arrest. His family have, since then, been refused any information regarding his whereabouts.

The teachers’ 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 begun on 25 February, after negotiations stalled between the Congolese authorities and trade unions over teacher’s status in the public sector.

Hilaire Eyima, head of the French department at the school Lycée de la Révolution, was arrested by plainclothes police officers at his home on April 18^th because of this use of SMS to spread information about 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 . He was held at the headquarters of the General Directorate for the Surveillance of the Territory (DGST).

Claude Nzingoula, a teacher at the medical school in the capital Brazzaville was arrested on April 19^th at his school and was also taken to the GDST headquarters.

They have reportedly been denied access to a lawyer of their choice and have been held for a week without any charge.

Daniel Ngami, co-chairman of the coalition called CPRE (Concertation pour la Revalorisation de la Profession d’Enseignant / Coalition for improving the teaching profession), was arrested by National Security office agents on 1^st of April and Luc Mba Monga, also a CPRE member, was arrested the following day. They were both held without charge and released five days later.

Before being released, Ngami was forced to read a statement on national media calling on teachers to return work.

Other CPRE members have been harassed and intimated and some have gone into hiding after their houses were searched without a warrant.

Since the beginning 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 on 25 February 2013, the trade unionists and teachers have been victims of threats and intimidation by telephone from the political and military authorities and in particular from the Direction générale de la surveillance du territoire (DGST), the la Direction départementale de la surveillance du territoire (DDST) and the Presidency of the Republic.

On the 5 March 2013, when the leaders of the CPRE were holding a meeting in one of the rooms in the INRAP (Institut national de recherche à l’appui pédagogique), Colonel Jean Aive Alakoua, the police spokesperson burst into the meeting. He threatened the trade unionists and promised to hunt down every one of them if 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 action was not suspended.

According to a report by the Congolese Human Rights Observatory (OCDH), the plight of Congolese pygmies is extremely worrying. These indigenous people, who only form two percent of the population, are exploited and discriminated against by the Bantu majority. The report reveals that forced and bonded labour still exist. A law taking nearly eight years to draw up was passed in 2011 but has not yet come into effect.

A national 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. committee was set up in 2011. The heads of the main trade union organisations are associated with it. Sector-level trade unions have, however, often denounced the poor level of consultation with ministers in charge of their sectors as well as the intimidation they suffer. Most workers, moreover, are not represented.

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. has made very little progress. These last years, there have been a series of social truces, broken promises, warnings to overly anti-authoritarian trade unions. At the beginning of May, the government called the unions to task about the need not to endanger the State’s solvency. The Minister of State, Florent Tsiba, said he was “outraged” by 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 in April by the Fédération des travailleurs de la science, des sports, de l’enseignement, de l’information et de la culture (FETRASSEIC) which could in his opinion, have led to “dangerous tensions and chaos”.

Employers’ reluctance to negotiate has led to strikes, some of which have been very long such as at 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 at the Société nouvelle des ciments du Congo (SONOCC). A national committee for 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. is due to be set up in 2011 to replace the social truce commission.

The government’s announcement of new austerity measures when it presented its 2010 budget in November roused the anger of the trade unions. All year long the government had been promising that it would pay more attention to their salary demands. On 9 December, the Congo Workers’ Trade Union Confederation (CSTC), the Congolese Trade Union Confederation (CSC) and the Teachers’ Unions’ College called 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 for the end of the year. That evening, negotiations resumed between the unions and the government. A few days later, a new social truce was announced, with a promise from the authorities to accelerate reforms. For years the trade unions have denounced the social inequality perpetuated by the State, particularly in the civil service, where decrees dating back to 1994 suspend bonuses and other workers’ advantages, seriously reducing their purchasing power.