Guinea

The ITUC affiliates in Guinea are the Confédération Nationale de Travailleurs de Guinée (CNTG), the Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres de Guinée (ONSLG) and the Union Syndicale des Travailleurs de Guinée (USTG).
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office
- Armed forces
- Members of the armed forces and the police are excluded by law from the right to strike.
Right to collective bargaining
In process
Right to strike
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions
- Restrictions with respect to the objective of 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 (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons) - The Labour Code defines a strike as a complete work stoppage aimed at satisfying work-related demands. This definition excludes, in principle, any strike called to protest against economic or social measures taken by the government.
Undue interference by authorities or employers during the course of a strike
- Authorities’ or employers’ power to prevent or end 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 referring the dispute to arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.
See conciliation, mediation - Employers can impose binding arbitration.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “essential services
essential services
Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
” in which 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 is prohibited or severely restricted - Compulsory arbitration can be imposed in essential services, which are broadly defined to include transportation, hospitals, radio and television, and communications.
In practice
Access to the headquarters of the free trade union of teachers and researchers, SLECG, in Donka, was blocked by a large contingent of police officers. Trade unionists were due to hold the meeting there to discuss whether to call off 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
. The right to hold meetings on trade union premises without prior authorisation and without interference from the authorities is a basic feature of 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
.
On 25 November, President Alpha Condé publicly threatened to close down all media covering the activities of Aboubacar Soumah, deputy general secretary of the free trade union of teachers and researchers SLECG (Union Libre des Enseignants et Chercheurs de la Guinée). The threat, which constitutes an attack on freedom of the press and trade unions’ freedom of expression, is part of a long line of violations against radio stations in Guinea.
Three heads of the free trade union of teachers and researchers, the SLECG (Syndicat Libre des Enseignants et Chercheurs de Guinée), Fode Abass Camara, Amara Mansa Doumbouya and Aboubacar Kaba, were arrested on the evening of 18 November in Conakry, on leaving and negotiating meeting at the office of the former general secretary and the CNTG (Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs de Guinée) and president of the UN Economic and Social Council. After being held in a secret location, they were released on 20 November thanks to 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 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In a statement made to the press, the minister of employment, vocational training and spokesperson for the government, Albert Damantang Camara, accused the union leaders of disturbing public order and calling an 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
, launched on 13 November, without providing 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 as required by the law. A complaint had been submitted by the Ministry of Education and Literacy.
At the beginning of December, two teenagers aged 15 and 17 were killed by bullets during clashes with the police within the framework of renewed 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 launched by teachers on 13 November. Thousands of school pupils had joined a demonstration to demand the return to class of teachers who had been striking for several weeks. Pupils trying to approach the presidential palace and the offices of the prime minister were pushed back and dispersed by riot police using batons. Police in the Hamdallaye and Bambéto districts used teargas.
At least five people were killed by bullets, 30 injured and 12 arrested in the violence that broke out during the demonstrations in Conakry on 20 February. The demonstrations, organised by striking teachers from the public education sector, were held to press for the reopening of the schools closed by the government on 1 February in response to protests. Although the government had announced, late on Sunday evening, that it had reached an agreement with the trade unions, to be signed the following day, the trade unions announced that they would not call off 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
until their demands had been totally met. The government condemned the incidents and 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
was finally suspended on 21 February.
On 19 February 2016, on the fourth day of a transport 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 after clashes broke out in several areas of the capital, around 15 strikers were arrested and briefly detained in Conakry. The Union Syndicale des Travailleurs de Guinée (USTG) condemned the strong-armed intervention of the police at several of the roadblocks set up to halt the passage of non-striking transport workers. A police chief attempted to justify the use of teargas and the dispersion of the demonstrators by claiming that they were not trade unionists. The USTG, however, reported that those arrested were the heads of trade union branches. An agreement ending the action was finally reached that day between the government and the two union centres that initiated 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
- the USTG and the Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs de Guinée (CNTG). The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which lent its support to the strikers, applauded the agreement at the same time as lamenting the fact that the Guinean authorities had waited for confrontation before coming to an understanding with the unions
In 2006, workers demonstrated in Conakry to demand democratic reforms and decent work and were violently repressed by the army resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. In May 2014, the Tribunal of Conakry summoned 45 union leaders in relation to this protest. The CFDT and CGT believe that this is an attempt to intimidate the union movement. While those who have committed serious human rights violations during the protests have not been punished, unions which are actively engaged in the democratic process are being targeted.
The company Rusal Friguia responded to 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 April 2012 by forcibly halting production, leaving 1,030 permanent employees and 2,000 outsourced workers without pay since April 2012. Workers had gone 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 the cities of Fria and Conakry to protest against management’s refusal 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
.
Since 2011, management refused 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
and instead employed a tactic of intimidation and provocation of plant-level trade union representatives and workers.
In June 2012, workers ended 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 government-arbitrated negotiations. However, Rusal refuses to end the lockout
lockout
A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations.
and insists unions accept responsibility for the company losses 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
, which the workers flatly refuse to do.
On 22 March 2013, trade union premises in N’Zérékoré were raided by unknown persons. There was considerable material damage and a large sum of cash and other items were stolen.
On 19 March 2012, the Assistant General Secretary of the Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs de Guinée (CNTG), Mr Kader Aziz Camara and his family were the victims of an armed attack at their home in Conakry. The assailants were in military uniforms and armed.