Country Rating: 2

  • Repeated violation of rights

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

Death threats against unionists: The Secretary General of the Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) has been the subject of death threats. The unions suspect that Salafists groups are behind the threats since they are constantly accusing the UGTT of hampering economic development.

Excessively complex or time-consuming formalities to call a strike: In order to strike unions must give ten days' advance notice to the UGTT, which should give its authorisation. The ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) has repeatedly pointed out that subjecting the right to strike to approval by the main trade union confederation was restricting the right of grass roots unions to organise their activities and freely defend their members' interests. The government has never given a satisfactory answer to that criticism.

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