TUNISIA: Thousands of workers at largest furniture manufacturer strike over pay and work conditions

Record ID: 341002

  • Title: TUNISIA: Thousands of workers at largest furniture manufacturer strike over pay and work conditions
  • Date: 28th June 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF WORKERS UNDER AWNING IN FRONT OF HEADQUARTERS, SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM WORKERS CHANTING "WE'LL LIVE IN DIGNITY OR WE'LL DIE TOGETHER"
  • Embargoed: 13th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: Business,Employment,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA887B7FJQLYV599Q4Z9UQRGWFS
  • Story Text: Workers from Tunisia's largest furniture manufacturer have been on strike over pay since Monday (June 18), promising to take their fight to the end.
    Among other issues, the Meublatex employees are demanding that they be paid in accordance with the amount of hours they are being made to work.
    "We should be working for 40 hours a week and this owner has imposed 48 hours. He's circumventing the law. We've been claiming our rights since 1994 but we get nothing but the fear of losing our jobs," said employee Mohamed Ali Ben Saad, who is also a member of the union.
    Workers also claim that Meublatex has been looking for different ways to fire them.
    "The administration of the company is using illegal means to get rid of employees. The employers want us to sign a document to testify that we don't recognise the union in order to return to work. Belonging to a union is guaranteed by the constitution and our employer is trying to limit our rights," employee and union member Ridha Braiek said.
    In response to the strike, Meublatex CEO Néji M'hiri has warned that he may close down factories in Tunisia, saying that his business cannot bear the weight and impact of the strike. While M'hiri denied Reuters an interview, his HR director made a short statement:
    "For security reasons, we've closed the factories and Meublatex Group branches because we've been under verbal attack from strikers. One of the union members said that in just an hour, he could destroy the whole empire that we've built in 40 years," HR Director Khaled Bouguerra said.
    Even before the strike, the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) already offered support for Meublatex employees.
    UGTT regional secretary Mustafa Matawaa said the problem with Meublatex's owner has been long-standing.
    "The owner of the (Meublatex) Group is known for being the enemy of the union. We've tried since the early 80s and 90s to create unions in his industrial companies and hotels but he's always reacted by firing the employees and dissolving the unions," he said.
    His sentiments were echoed by Meublatex Group union assistant secretary general Anouar Lagnass.
    "The conflict between the union and the businessman is historical. For decades, the union has been considered as a disease and an obstacle that the company didn't want to deal with. We've supported injustice before the revolution but we no longer accept it," Lagnass said.
    The union is hoping to convince M'hiri to return to the negotiating table next week.
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