Libya
Libya has struggled to rebuild state institutions since the ouster and subsequent death of former leader Muammar al-Qaddafi in October 2011. Rival armed groups, including security forces affiliated with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and militia groups loyal to the rival Interim Government based in eastern Libya have continued to fight, killing civilians and destroying vital infrastructures. An estimated 1.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Libya. Tens of thousands of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants remain in a bleak situation, as they were exposed to arbitrary arrest and abduction by militias and are regularly the victims of human trafficking and abuses by criminal groups.
In March 2020, Libyan delegates nominated a Government of National Unity as the new interim authority meant to replace previous opposing ones. Armed groups and authorities remained responsible for systematic abuses including thousands held in long-term arbitrary detention, unlawful killings, torture, and forced disappearances.
The ITUC does not have an affiliate in Libya.
Libya ratified Convention No. 87 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 Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 2000 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and 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
(1949) in 1962.
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Freedom of association
The right to freedom of association is recognized by law but strictly regulated.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Barriers to the establishment of organisations
- Restrictions on trade unions’ right to establish branches, federation and confederation or to affiliate with national and international organisations
- According to the Labour Code, a trade union may receive the approval of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs for establishing branches in the provinces. A trade union should have at least 100 members in order to be registered. A trade union may establish a trade union committee in each establishment where no fewer than 50 members of the trade union are employed. No trade union may have any connection with any foreign trade union.
Restrictions on workers’ right to form and join organisations of their own choosing
- Single trade union system imposed by law and/or a system banning or limiting organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. at a certain level (enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and/or territorial, national)
- Membership of the General Trade Union Federation of Workers (GTUFW) is automatic, although workers do have the right to opt out. Independent trade unions are banned. The establishment of more than one trade union or association in the same profession is not allowed.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes
- According to the Labour Code, notice of the general meeting of a trade union should be sent to the General Directorate of Labour at least 15 days before the meeting. The Directorate General of Labour may appoint an official to represent him at the meeting. Furthermore, no trade union should accept donations or a legacy without authorisation from the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office
- Others categories
- A worker's membership of a union should be terminated one year after the date s/he ceases to work.
- Non-national or migrant workers
- Only workers of Libyan nationality can become members of a trade union.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining
- Exclusion of certain matters from the scope of bargaining (e.g. wages, hours)
- The Labour Code requires the clauses of collective agreements to be in conformity with the national economic interest, thus violating the principle of the voluntary negotiation of collective agreements and the autonomy of the bargaining parties. Furthermore, the Government sets salaries unilaterally.
- Authorities’ or employers’ power to unilaterally annul, modify or extend content and scope of collective agreements
- The Labour Code requires that clauses of collective agreements be in conformity with the national economic interest. That provision allows the government to preclude any demand it regards as incompatible with its economic and social preferences.
Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors
- Other civil servants and public employees
- Public servants not engaged in the administration of the State are not covered by collective agreements.
- Other categories
- Agricultural workers and seafarers are not covered by collective agreements.
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Barriers to lawful strike actions
- Compulsory recourse 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 , or to long and complex conciliation conciliation An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.
See arbitration, mediation and 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 procedures prior 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 actions - According to section 150 of the Labour Code the exhaustion of all conciliation and arbitration procedures is the only condition for a lawful strike. Collective disputes must be referred to compulsory arbitration at the request of one of the parties or at the discretion of the public authorities, the outcome of which is binding on both parties. As the ILO has noted, this system makes it possible to prohibit virtually all strikes or end them quickly.
Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness
- Excessive civil or penal sanctions for workers and unions involved in non-authorised 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 actions - Section 176 imposes a penalty of imprisonment or a fine against anyone who acts contrary to section 150 of the Labour Code, according to which the exhaustion of all conciliation and arbitration procedures is the only condition for a lawful strike.
In practice
On 8 November, an attempt was made on the life of Nermin Al-Sharif, head of the Libyan Dockers’ and Seafarers’ Union. This well-known figure from the international trade union movement – she plays an active role, for example, in the International Transport Federation (IFT) - was at the wheel of a car on the outskirts of Benghazi when the occupants of two vehicles began pursuing her and shooting at her. Hit by a bullet, the trade unionist was unable to avoid crashing. She had to be hospitalised. This is the second attempt to murder Nermin Al-Sharif. Like many other human rights activists, she was targeted by fanatics. The ITF, in partnership with LabourStart, launched a petition calling on Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to protect trade unionists and human rights defenders. Three other well-known Libyan activists have recently been murdered.
The first 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
staged by a Libyan civil aviation union, which brought airport operations to a standstill across the country at the end of May, had to be suspended to allow the victims of injuries to receive medical attention. Against the background of widespread chaos, with militias waging battle, workers are faced with constant danger and unspeakable suffering. At the beginning of 2015, the general air transport union GATU and another union representing staff at the airport catering company tried, without success, to initiate a dialogue with their employer. Although 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 to be suspended on humanitarian grounds, it enabled the two unions to negotiate the establishment of a works council
works council
1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest.
at which the workers’ demands could be discussed.
Oil guard workers 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
calling for better wages and constitutional reform. 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
commenced in June 2013 and virtually stopped production and exports at key terminals in Ras Lanuf, Sedra, Brega and Zoueitina on the central coast. The Government responded by threatening to use military force to bring order to oil sector.
There is no tradition of trade union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. in Libya after 42 years of autocratic rule during which there was no tolerance of any independent trade union activity. The single national centre, the General Trade Union Federation of Workers’ (GTUFW) was under government control, despite claims of greater independence in recent years. Privatisation and the increasing number of foreign-owned companies led in recent years to some instances of workers trying to take collective action outside the official structures, although with little effect. Since the uprising some public sector workers have also begun to press for their rights. Healthcare workers and media professionals began protesting in November in Benghazi, calling for an end to administrative corruption and better working conditions. Employees of the naval base also protested, over unpaid salaries and a shortage of supplies. Much needs to be done to channel such protest movements into the building of a strong independent workers’ movement.
Libya’s business boom has led to increasing reliance from the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. It is estimated that over one fifth of the workforce are expatriates. Those from the Maghreb tend to be fairly well treated while migrant workers from sub-Sharan Africa and increasingly Asia often do menial jobs. During the year hundreds of Nepalese and Indian workers had to be repatriated by their governments as they were not being paid at all, while about 200 Bangladeshi workers 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
for two weeks over non-payment of wages and beatings by management. Migrant workers cannot form their own unions, nor can they hold union office, and the official trade unions appear to be doing nothing to support or organise them.
The government has the right to set salaries unilaterally and even to cut them, as it has done repeatedly in the recent past, for instance with the national airline. So in practice, there is no real 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
at either the national or sectoral level. In the event of a dispute, the union centre approaches the management to find solutions and concludes an individual agreement with the company.