2015 ITUC Global Rights Index Rating: 4

National centre refused the right to hold anti-slavery rally; earlier protests repressed:

The government refused the Free Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CLTM) the right to hold a two rallies on 27 and 28 January 2015, in Kissal and Dar Naim, in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), to draw public awareness to the issue of slavery and the laws surrounding it. The grounds for refusal were that trade unions should not involve themselves in politics, ignoring the fact that slavery, as a blatant violation of all labour rights, has long been a trade union issue. The proposal to hold the rallies followed the sentencing to two years' imprisonment of three prominent Mauritanian anti-slavery activists Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, president of the NGO Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), the IRA's vice-president Brahim Ould Bilal Ramdane, and Djiby Sow, president of the anti-slavery NGO Kawtal on 15 January 2015. The three had been held in custody since 11 November 2014 following their participation in a rally calling for the right of slave farmers to own the land they cultivate, a key feature in the country's own National Roadmap to End Slavery. Five others had been arrested with them but were acquitted at the trial. National trade union centres, including the General Workers' Confederation of Mauritania (CGTM) condemned the arrests at the time and many protests followed. The trial went ahead however, and was riddled with irregularities and violations of the defendants' rights. Dozens of supporters protested outside the courthouse and the prosecutor's office during the trial. The police used teargas and batons to disperse the crowd, reportedly leaving four injured. Mauritania did not criminalise slavery until 2007. There are an estimated 180,000 slaves in the country, yet there has only been one conviction for slavery in the last eight years.

Bad faith bargaining by mining company followed by harassment and intimidation of union delegates:

Workers at the National Industrial and Mining Company (SNIM) went on strike on 28 January 2015 to demand that the company honour pay rises agreed on 3 May 2014. Mohamed Abdallahi, General Secretary of the General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CGTM) explained that workers had negotiated and obtained increases from SNIM, the level to be determined by the board of directors, to take effect last October, at the same time as overtime and production bonuses. However the company constantly delayed the process, and the union became convinced it never seriously intended to honour its agreement.

When the union finally announced on 14 January there would be a stoppage on 28 January to press for the respect of their demands, the company was quick to intimidate the workers and exert pressure on their union leaders. The company distributed flyers in the workplace warning workers not to take part in the stoppage. The workers' delegates were given express orders not to use their offices on company premises to hold meetings with the workers, and the local police in Zouerate parked a police vehicle outside the union premises shortly before a rally was due to start. Then on the evening 22 January two union representatives, Kénémé Demba and Ahmed ould Abeily, were summoned to appear before the local Prefect. On 27 January three union representatives, Ahmed ould Abeily, Yaya Gaye and Mohamed ould Mohamed Salem, were informed that they would be laid off from 28 January until 4 February 2015, in a very obvious attempt to make it difficult for them to communicate with their colleagues. The workers went ahead with their action, and what had been foreseen as a six-hour stoppage became an all-out strike.

Ahmed Vall Cheibani, the leader of one of the workers' unions at SNIM, affiliatd to the National Confederation of Mautitanian Workers, (CNTM), was sacked on 12 February 2015, supposedly for lack of respect to a superior, without being able to defend himself against the charges. The CNTM protested at the dismissal, which was a blatant retaliation for his role in the strike.

The strike dragged on, and the CGTM announced a march in solidarity with the SNIM workers' strike at the end of February. They were refused permission by the authorities however, on the grounds that their march would disrupt the traffic, despite the fact that the planned route did not go through the area the authorities claimed would be affected.

The Free Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CLTM) also reported that workers had been threatened with eviction from company housing and that the company was refusing to restock the on-site store for the duration of the strike. By late March 2015 the dispute had still not been resolved.


The ITUC Global Rights Index Ratings:

1 // Irregular violation of rights
Collective labour rights are generally guaranteed. Workers can freely associate and defend their rights collectively with the government and/or companies and can improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Violations against workers are not absent but do not occur on a regular basis.

2 // Repeated violation of rights
Countries with a rating of 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under repeated attacks by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

3 // Regular violation of rights
Governments and/or companies are regularly interfering in collective labour rights or are failing to fully guarantee important aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws and/or certain practices which make frequent violations possible.

4 // Systematic violation of rights
Workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under threat.

5 // No guarantee of rights
Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

5+ // No guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law
Workers in countries with the rating 5+ have equally limited rights as countries with the rating 5. However, in countries with the rating 5+ this is linked to dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. In such cases, the country is assigned the rating of 5+ by default.

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