Enlarged meeting between the Ministry of Labor Force and Trade Unions

Press Releases
Wednesday, July 17, 2019 - 11:46

 

Enlarged meeting between

The Ministry of Labor Force and Trade Unions

An appointment was agreed upon last week to take place with the Minister's legal advisor in order to examine the case of trade unions whose legal status remained pending; on this base, a delegation composed of around thirty trade union representatives headed to the Ministry on July 14th 2019 accompanied by CTUWS lawyers.

From the Ministry's side were present the legal advisor together with two responsible of the trade unions' file who expressed their welcoming of holding an open dialogue with the entities they represented.  The meeting lasted for almost three hours during which all representatives of trade unions had the opportunity to express their concerns.

The Minister in person inaugurated the meeting in a step that could be considered as an indicator of concern to discuss the pending matters and reach adequate solutions.

At the beginning of his speech, the Minister stated that he was standing on an equal distance from all trade unions and that the Ministry was not biased in favor of a category to the detriment of the other.  He added that the government felt no harm from the existence of more than a trade union federation and was ready to cooperate with all trade unions and secure their autonomy.  However, he expressed his annoyance from the practices of some workers' leaders, especially referring to those who pretend representing wide numbers of workers without any concrete proof of the reality of this assertion on the ground.

From their side, representatives of trade unions welcomed the amendments to Trade Unions Law considered as a positive step forward although requiring additional changes to consolidate trade union freedoms.  They also confirmed that the most urgent issue to be settled was the fair implementation of the Law without coercion or detour by enabling all trade unions to finalize the readjustment process, freely conduct their activities and achieve their mandate.

The Minister remained in the meeting room for almost fifteen minutes; once he left, the discussion was resumed about the status of participant trade unions whose representatives revealed the types of stubbornness and arbitrariness they were exposed to pointing out that many of such practices had no legal base and are, on the contrary in defiance to the Law.  Finally, they requested a fair solution was reached as well as the right and fair implementation of both Law 213/2019 and its Executive Regulation.

Worth mentioning that the Ministry's legal advisor and the responsible of the trade unions' file declared their readiness to examine the problems raised during the meeting in order to reach a satisfactory solution, reiterating the assurance of good will and the sincere desire to settle things to the best end.

The meeting was finalized by an agreement with the legal advisor that each trade union would present separately a memorandum according to the variety of cases - i.e. readjustment of legal status, registration, or removal of obstacles before conducting activities – including an explanatory note with all backing documents attached.  These requests would be then studied consecutively until the right implementation of the Law will be achieved and pending cases solved.  A further meeting was scheduled after two weeks as a means to consolidate mutual trust and avoid any incidents jeopardizing the process.

While welcoming this positive initiative on behalf of the Ministry of Labor Force, CTUWS wishes it will remain sustained leading to solving all pending problems and truly enabling trade unions from freely establishing and pursuing their efforts without any kind of pressures.

CTUWS

July 16, 2019 

 

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