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10 April, 2011
Bahrain’s authorities and business leaders are retaliating to a general strike led by the national trade union centre General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) with a campaign of mass sackings, intimidation, and violence against all workers involved.
The general strike was called on 13 March, and ended 22 March, in support of pro-democracy protests in the Persian Gulf island-state. The agreement to end the strike included a promise to GFBTU, an affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), by authorities that strikers would not suffer repercussions.
Estimates suggest over 1,000 workers will be laid-off during the crackdown, including staff at Alba Aluminum Bahrain BSC, Bahrain Telecommunications Company, Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Services, and APM Terminals Bahrain at the Khalifa Sea Port. All sackings were due to worker absence during the strike.
BAPCO Union President Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain
The president of the union at Bahrain Petroleum (BAPCO), Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain, has been fired for his absence during the strike and also for “inciting workers to strike.” The company has begun legal prosecution of Hussain. BAPCO also fired nine other workers, and is investigating the cases of 230 workers who participated in the strike.
BAPCO union President Hussain was central in the creation of the GBFTU. All employees at BAPCO are now fearful of losing their jobs in the coming days. Absenteeism of BAPCO employees on 16-17 March was 60%.
(See ICEM's letter to the King of Bahrain.)
Last week, security forces closed down the GBFTU headquarters and are expected to soon call the organisation’s president, Salman Mahfooz, in for questioning. Roads leading to the union office were closed and workers were blocked from reaching the headquarters. Most of those workers had been seeking guidance from their union following their sacking.
The GBFTU website has been shut down. Parliament is calling on the government to immediately refer trade union leaders involved in the strike to the public prosecutor’s office.
All members of the GBFTU executive, spanning all industries, have been suspended from work pending investigations. On top of this cynical multi-faceted attack on Bahrain’s independent trade unions, companies are now planning legal cases against the unions in a further attempt to permanently end their activities.
Over 300 activists have been arrested with many missing and at least 20 killed since protesters took to the streets in February, inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The violent suppression of the Bahraini people’s reform protest has been facilitated by armed forces from neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia
This disgraceful attack on core human and trade union rights of the Bahraini people must end immediately, global trade unions say. ILO Director-General Juan Somavia issued a statement on 6 April calling repercussions to the strike “extremely alarming, in particular as the GFBTU had called on workers to return to work and had been given assurances by State officials that they will not face any punitive measures for their participation in strikes.”