Dec 13, 2021
Nabil El-Moumni, a Tunisian disability rights advocate and blind receptionist at the local hospital of Mareth, Gabes, advocated–and won–important changes at his workplace to accommodate both workers and patients with disabilities. At his urging, the hospital installed an access ramp and prepared illustrated signs to help people who cannot hear or speak access the hospital’s various departments.
“They can have access to that department’s services independently, without the help of strangers,” El-Moumni says in a new documentary, “We Are All Different,” on the experience of workers with disabilities in Tunisia produced by the UGTT (Tunisian General Labor Union) and the Solidarity Center.
“I am blind, and I want more independence in my work,” he says. “The phone numbers I work with are registered in numerical support. I read via text-to-speech. I prepared papers in large format.”
El-Moumni’s support for worker rights initially cost him his job. “After that,” he says, “I started a general strike in front of Gabe’s governorate.” He was reinstated on January 13, 2016.
A diverse group of workers with disabilities, from gardeners and street cleaners to municipal employees and athletic competitors, share their experience with discrimination and the barriers they face in the workplace, in their communities and in accessing government services and jobs due to accessibility limitations—both in public buildings and transportation.
Many also speak of the satisfaction they experience in their work, and the gains workers with disabilities have made in receiving protections and accommodations, and being empowered to advocate for their needs.
Kalthoum Barkallah, Solidarity Center acting country program director for North Africa, says the documentary “sheds light on the reality of persons with disabilities in order to build general public awareness and push public authorities, civil society and partners to take up their issues and defend their rights.”
The film debuted on International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3, 2021.
Dec 4, 2012
Ten people were injured today after they were attacked by a mob of men wielding knives, sticks and rocks at the Tunisian Labor Federation (Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail UGTT) in the capital, Tunis.
As trade unionists held an overnight vigil to commemorate the 1952 assassination of Farhat Hached, UGTT founder and first general secretary, hundreds attacked the union’s offices, injuring participants, including two members of UGTT’s executive board. The attack was captured on amateur video.
“Today’s attack perpetrated against the UGTT is a second assassination of Farhat Hached,” said UGTT General Secretary Hassine Abassi, speaking on Shems FM, the UGTT radio station.
“The UGTT was never attacked like this during the time of (former presidents) Ben Ali or Bourguiba. We hold the current government responsible for this violence.”
Following the attacks, thousands of union members and supporters, including Solidarity Center staff, gathered in the city center and marched to Hached’s tomb to stand in solidarity with those injured and to denounce violence in a democratic society that respects values of equality and social justice.
UGTT’s offices were attacked in October, and union members and supporters rushed to barricade the doors. No one was injured. In June, the three regional UGTT office were damaged after being firebombed.
Hached was brutally murdered by a colonialist militia, a key event in Tunisia’s passage to independence.
The UGTT was recently honored by the AFL-CIO and received the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award for its fundamental role in supporting and sustaining the democratic uprising that took place in Tunisia in 2011.
Oct 10, 2012
The offices of the Tunisian Labor Federation (Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail, UGTT) in Tunis, Tunisia, were attacked at 8:45 a.m. today by up to 200 people wielding rocks and bottles. Union supporters, including a Solidarity Center staff member, rushed to the scene and barricaded entry to the offices. Ever since last year’s elections, the UGTT has been repeatedly targeted with vicious attacks from groups hostile to the union. Firebomb attacks during the night of June 11-12 damaged three UGTT offices in Bousalam, Bengarden and Jendouba.
As the attackers “tried to force their way into the building, they threw rocks and bottles,” said Mohamed Najjari, a member of the UGTT’s tourism workers federation. “I’m glad no one was hurt.”
After being pushed back from the union office, the attackers rallied in a nearby square, periodically sending someone to harangue the assembled UGTT activists. By then, the riot police had arrived and no further violence erupted.
The UGTT was recently honored by the AFL-CIO and received the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award for its fundamental role in supporting and sustaining the democratic uprising that took place in Tunisia in 2011.
Watch a Youtube video covering this morning’s violence.
Sep 14, 2012
Yesterday, Hassine Abassi, Gerneral Secretary, Tunisian General Union of Labor (UGTT) and S. Salman Jaddar Al Mahfoodh, General Secretary, General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), received the 2012 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award on behalf of their respective labor movements, as emblematic of the labor movements across the Middle East working to preserve democracy, justice and freedom during a ceremony at the AFL-CIO’s headquarters in Washington.
At the ceremony, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka recognized the labor movements throughout the Arab region for their ongoing role in the struggle for democracy:
“I’m proud to honor the brave working people of Bahrain and Tunisia, who transformed a wave of protests into the mass movement of democracy and economic equality that has come to be known as the Arab Spring. Unionists are a leading voice against corruption, for women’s rights and for a robust democracy with the rights of working people at its core… Their courage inspires us, and we at the AFL-CIO have been proud to join the unions of Tunisia and Bahrain in this struggle. We will use every available channel to pursue the fundamental human rights that they so courageously champion. And we will not stop until you’ve achieved the goals you want and need,” said Trumka.
“This award is recognition of the revolution for freedom and dignity in Tunisia, and it is confirmation of strong global labor solidarity. While we take pride in being recognized, we feel a growing responsibility to continue our common struggle for freedom and democracy with strong will and determination,” Hassine Abassi, General Secretary of the UGTT.
Said S. Salman Jaddar Al Mahfoodh: “This award does not only belong to the GBFTU, but first and foremost, it belongs to the more than 4,000 Bahraini workers and unionists who have been suffering from unjust firings and the consequences of expressing their opinions. It also belongs to the Bahraini people, who are still struggling for freedom, democracy and social justice.”
In addition to the award recipients, President Trumka also recognized union activists from Egypt, Algeria and Morocco who mobilized thousands in their own countries to carry forward a message of social justice.
