Guinea

Once again this year, the government banned all demonstrations, citing grounds of risks to public safety. At least 20 demonstrations were banned by the authorities. Security forces used tear gas against those defying the ban and arrested dozens of demonstrators.

On 11 February 2020, workers at the Marriott Sheraton Grand Conakry, Guinea, voted, with 96 per cent of votes in favour, to form a union, and they elected their leaders. The lengthy process began in March 2019. Throughout, hotel management tried all possible means to stop the election.
The move to unionise came in response to low wages, unpaid overtime, and a lack of healthcare provisions. The union plans to negotiate a collective agreement improving on the sectoral national agreement achieved in 2018.
However, only a few months after the union election, management at the Marriot commenced retaliatory suspension and firings, claiming fallacious pretexts to do so.
On 18 August 2020, Mohamed Saliou Sampil, a worker at the Sheraton Grand Conakry, accidentally broke a flower pot in the lobby. He was then summoned on 26 August by management to a pre-termination interview. General Secretary Amadou Diallo and Deputy General Secretary Alhassane Diallo of the new union (FHTRC-ONSLG) met with management to express their serious disagreement with the proposed termination of their colleague. Within days, hotel management suspended the two union leaders without pay. On 16 September, management terminated Mr Sampil, despite his apology.
On 28 September, the union presented a petition signed by a majority of the hotel workers in support of Mr Sampil. In retaliation, the management of the five-star hotel terminated General Secretary Amadou Diallo and Deputy General Secretary Alhassane Diallo.
International mobilisation led to a number of support actions globally to request the reinstatement of the three workers and the end of union-busting practices in the hotel. To this date, Mohamed Saliou Sampil, Amadou Diallo and Alhassane Diallo still await their reinstatement.

A large deployment of security forces used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators gathered on 14 November. According to the organiser of the demonstration, the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) – a coalition of opposition parties, trade unions and civil society – three people were killed and many others suffered gunshot wounds. Alpha Souleymane Diallo, a 19-year-old Guinean boy, was shot dead after the demonstration had been broken up. According to witnesses at the scene, police officers shot him twice in the chest after he had returned from the demonstration. Several people were arrested that day, including Alsény Farinta Camara, regional coordinator of the FNDC in Kindia.

On Saturday 12 October 2019, members of the security forces wearing balaclavas burst into the private home of the coordinator of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) – a coalition of opposition parties, trade unions and civil society groups – where a meeting was being held. The FNDC members attending the meeting were arrested. Five of them were sentenced to up to one year in prison for having called for peaceful protest. The arrests took place less than 48 hours before the peaceful demonstration scheduled for Monday 14 October to denounce the new draft constitution that would allow President Alpha Condé to remain in power for a third consecutive term. Several thousand people attended the protest, during which two people were killed and 13 others were injured. Dozens of demonstrators were also sentenced to one year in prison for attending an “illegal gathering”.

The USTG (Union Syndicale des Travailleurs de Guinée) denounced the security forces’ attack on its headquarters. Trade union leaders were reportedly assaulted, arrested and then taken to the gendarmerie for questioning.

Amadou Boukariou Baldé, a Guinean student, died at the hands of gendarmes deployed to break up a demonstration at the University of Labé on 31 May 2019. The complaint filed by his family against the regional governor and the commander of two gendarmerie units in Labé was shelved by the public prosecutor on 28 June.

On 14 February 2019, security forces used tear gas to disperse the group of contract teachers staging a sit-in in front of the Ministry of National Education and Literacy to demand their unconditional admission to the public service. The contract teachers had replaced tenured teachers who were 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 . Some demonstrators were injured and others were arrested.

The USTG (Union Syndicale des Travailleurs de Guinée), an ITUC affiliate, denounced the deployment of security forces at the port when a local union local union A local branch of a higher-level trade union such as a national union. was set up, preventing its participation in social consultations.

On Monday 12 November, the police used tear gas to disperse teachers who were preparing to hold a sit-in and demonstrations in front of the communal department of education (DCE), in Matoto, in Conakry. The action had been called by teachers’ and researchers’ union SLECG, which had planned to hold sit-ins in front of the departments of education in the various communes and prefectures in Conakry and other parts of the country to denounce “the freeze on teachers’ salaries, the arrests of trade unionists” and “arbitrary transfers”.
Four teachers, Mohamed Lamine Mouctar Diallo, Ibrahima Sory Mara, Abdoul Karim Sylla and Sadialiou Bah, who were arrested during the sit-in in Conakry, were tried and sentenced by the Court of First Instance of Kindia on 28 November 2018. They were each given six-months suspended prison terms for gathering on a public thoroughfare.
In Labe, the local Court of First Instance sentenced 16 teachers for the same offences to six months suspended sentences and the payment of a 500,000 Guinean franc fine.

Five trade unionists, including Ibrahima Kalil Condé, general secretary of teachers’ and researchers’ union SLECG, were arrested on orders of the prefect of Kankan for attempting to hold an unauthorised peaceful march. Several pupils were also arrested during the demonstration, which had been organised by teachers in protest at their salary freeze. The people arrested were released late at night on the same day.

On 10 September 2018, police blocked the holding of a meeting between the mediator of the Republic and the trade union delegation representing port workers. The police stormed the premises where a briefing with the workers was being held and attacked the trade unionists with tear gas.
On Monday 17 September, the general secretary 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 port workers, Cheick Touré, was arrested for “defamation and slanderous statements against the head of state and his son”. Since the signing of an agreement between the Guinean state and the Turkish company Albayrak, the port workers have been organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. regular demonstrations to protest against the concession granted for a section of the port. The trade union leader had allegedly said that if the head of state sets such store by the concession agreement it is because his son has a 30% share in the concession awarded to Albayrak. The Court of First Instance in Kaloum declared Cheick Chérif Touré not guilty of slander but guilty of defamation, and sentenced him to 13 days in prison and the payment of a 500,000 Guinean franc fine. Having already been held for 13 days in custody, Cheick Touré was released on Monday 1 October.

Amara Mansa Doumbouya, a member of the Executive Bureau and communications officer of teachers’ and researchers’ union SLECG was arrested on Monday 3 September 2018 and accused of fraud in the management of the 2018 Baccalaureate exams. The general secretary of the SLECG, Aboubacar Soumah, denounced the move as a witch hunt. The negotiations due to be renewed between the SLECG and the government were subsequently suspended until Amara Mansa Doumbouya was released on bail on 4 September.

On 23 July, the Guinean police used batons, water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators at two marches called by Forces Sociales, a new coalition of civil society organisations, to press for the cancellation of the rise in fuel prices. The demonstration, which had been forbidden by the governor of Conakry, ended with the arrest of ten people, including three trade unionists working in the transport sector in the commune of Matoto. They were release in the afternoon after appearing before the public prosecutor of the Republic. Trade unions and civil society have been trying to mobilise since the beginning of July against a 25% hike in fuel prices.

Four trade unionists were arrested on 12 July in Conakry following demonstrations and 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 the rise in fuel prices. According to the authorities, the trade unionists were arrested for having blocked traffic in certain areas of Conakry. The inter-trade union movement held a peaceful march on Tuesday 17 July to press to press, in addition to a reduction in fuel prices, for the release of the trade unionists arrested.

During the night of Saturday 5 to Sunday 6 May, at three in the morning, the deputy general secretary of the UGTG union centre, Aboubacar Sidiki Mara, was arrested in his hotel room in Boké, where he was conducting a mission to observe working conditions and to set up UGTG structures within a number of mining companies.
A few hours before the arrest, the president of the Republic, Alpha Condé, announced that he had “ordered the governor of Boké to arrest a trade unionist who had gone to stir up trouble in the mining region. On 21 June, a month and a half after his arrest, Aboubacar Sidiki Mara was brought before the Court of First Instance in Dixinn. Charged with inciting rebellion, unlawful protest and assembly in the vicinity of a mining or port company, the trade union leader pleaded not guilty. He was sentenced on 28 June to a six-month prison term, four months of which were suspended, for “stirring unlawful protest in mining areas”.
Eight trade union centres (ONLS, CGSL, UGTG, CGTG, COSATREG, UDTG, UNTG and CGFOG) condemned this “blatant interference” by the government in trade union affairs.

In July 2015, six Guinean trade union centres (ONSLG, COSATREG, UGTG, CGSL, CGTG and UDTG) filed a complaint with 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 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 organisations denounced the government for the process used to determine trade union representativeness in the public and private sectors, in violation of the legal texts and without their participation. From 30 March to 7 July 2015, the government, through the General Labour Inspectorate and the General Inspectorate for the Public Administration, held evaluations and elections of workers’ organisations in the public, semi-public and private sectors. The labour minister sent the contested results to the president of the Republic, for the purpose of designating workers’ representatives to the Economic and Social Council. These manoeuvres are clearly aimed at eradicating ten out of twelve trade union centres and weakening trade union action in Guinea.

As members of teachers’ and researchers’ union SLECG were gathering at the grounds of the Fayçal mosque to hold their Congress, police officers stormed the meeting and arrested several trade unionists, including Manssa Keita, Mohamed Bangoura Romeo, Alain Bilivogui (general secretary of the Faranah branch of the SLECG) and Mohamed Bangoura Romeo from the Forécariah branch of the SLECG. The other trade unionists were dispersed.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

At a workshop organised in April by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), mineworkers backed by their unions provided evidence on the extremely poor working conditions at the Kindla Bauxite Company, a subsidiary of the mining giant RUSAL. A culture of outsourcing outsourcing See contracting-out at the mine, introduced by management with the complicity of associates of former President Lansana Conté, weakened the trade unions and aggravated the poverty of workers and their families and the local population. Several of Kindla’s 120 outsourcing outsourcing See contracting-out companies used child labour. The ruling junta has promised trade unions that it will accelerate the review of the national mining convention, a code outrageously biased in favour of foreign investors. RUSAL’s industrial relations industrial relations The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.

See social dialogue manager was expelled from the country.