Algeria: Reinstate Rachid Malaoui, End Union Rights Violations Now
Public Services International, together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), the Comité International de Soutien au Syndicalisme Autonome Algérien/CISA (International Support Committee for Autonomous Algerian Trade Unions), the Solidarity Center and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), are calling for international action in solidarity with Algerian trade union SNAPAP, including the reinstatement of SNAPAP President Rachid Malaoui.
All unions and international organizations defending human rights are called upon to support SNAPAP by sending letters to the President of the Republic of Algeria, demanding that Rachid Malaoui be reinstated as soon as possible and that the right to exercise his union mandate be guaranteed in accordance with Algerian law and Algeria’s international commitments.
In May 2013, Rachid Malaoui was removed from his post at the University of Continuous Education while he was about to take part in the International Labor Conference, organised by the International Labor Organization (ILO), last June, in Geneva. This type of harassment clearly demonstrates a desire to punish Rachid Malaoui because of his trade union activities and his commitment to defending human rights, in violation of Article 53 of Algerian Law No. 90-14 of 2 June 1990, which states that “no union delegate may be dismissed or transferred by his employer, nor can any disciplinary action be undertaken as a result of his/her union activities”. In June and July 2013, both during and after the ILO’s International Labor Conference, several informal negotiations took place with the Ministry of Labor and other state institutions, during the course of which Rachid Malaoui was advised of the possibility of his eventual re-integration. Unfortunately, to this date, no concrete steps have been taken and all the attempts to have his case heard remain unanswered.
Take action: Sign an online letter to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika urging him to reinstate Malaoui and commit the government to engaging in dialogue with SNAPAP.
More information, including a fact sheeet and protest letters from PSI, ITUC and the AFL-CIO, is available here.