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28 March, 2007
Trade union leaders from Guinea, who have been leading efforts to topple the corrupt regime of President Lansano Conté in the west African country, were in Brussels on 26-27 March, and they appealed to global trade unions to continue to apply pressure for democratic change there.
The national centre leaders, which included the leader of ICEM’s mining union affiliate in Guinea, visited the ICEM on 27 March. They told of the continued impasse to dissolve the corrupt and authoritative government of Conté – despite the appointment of an acceptable prime minister – and they addressed the rampant poverty that has swallowed the resource-rich country, due primarily to that corruption.
The three included: Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, General Secretary of the National Confederation of Workers of Guinea (CNTG); Dr. Ibrahima Fofana, General Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers of Guinea (USTG); and Yamodou Touré, General Secretary of the National Organisation of Free Trade Unions of Guinea (ONSLG), who also heads the National Union of Mine and Quarry Workers (SYNAMIC).
From left to right: Ibrahima Fofana, Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, Manfred Warda and Yamodou Touré
Guinea’s trade unions have become the voice and courage for all of civil society as they led mass strikes against Conté and his military regime last year, and again in January and February of this year. In January, the three leaders were arrested for leading the three-week general strike, and the arrests were interlocked with direct negotiations with Conté, talks that did make modest progress toward democratic reform.
Conté's presidential guards killed a total of 113 people during this year's crisis.
The Brussels visit was made possible by the ITUC, and included a visit to the European Union’s Commission.
At the ICEM, Rabi Diallo said the January-February general strike was only a partial success, and civil society is now waiting for new Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate to re-shape a government that will address the needs of the people. “The stumbling block is that the president is still in power,” she said. “The commitments we have gained have not been implemented, so our struggle continues. Nothing is a given yet.”
Dr. Fofana added, “We have initiated the first step, that government must be responsible to the people. We took action, the state tried to stop us, but we have persevered.” Fofana and the others are calling for an international conference of trade union and civil society groups to be held in Guinea this year. The conference is intended to promote proper social dialogue inside the country, as well “as to show the whole world what is occurring in Guinea today,” according to Fofana.
Yamodou Touré said the two biggest obstacles facing workers in Guinea are corrupt bosses, and the need for overhaul and drastic revisions to labour code and collective labour agreements. The three trade union leaders specifically told ICEM of the problems in Guinea’s mining sector, where taxes that are charged to global companies end up in personal accounts of Conté and his cronies.
The country holds roughly half of the world’s reserves of bauxite, the chief mineral in the manufacture of aluminium, and also is a significant producer of copper, gold, and diamonds.
The trade unionists said Russian bauxite producer RUSAL is a real problem in Guinea. The company, which operates the Friguia alumina plant, as well as serving as the managing partner in a joint venture with Conté’s corrupt regime, called Compagnie des Bauxite de Kindia, utilises child labour in many of its work areas. The company also relies heavily on subcontractors, “phantom” companies which are tied to Conté’s associates.
These enterprises operate in the black, and are the worst abusers of workers’ rights in a country in which workplace rights are nearly non-existent.
After meeting with ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda and ICEM staff, Warda stated, “The people of Guinea deserve our support and solidarity. They are living and working under the worst circumstances imaginable. It is incumbent for global trade unions to follow the lead of Guinea’s heroic unions, and to join their struggle for justice and democratic reforms.”