2 May, 2011The IMF joins with the ITUC and the global trade union movement in supporting workers in Arab countries that demonstrated to demand decent jobs, social justice and an end to repression on May Day.
GLOBAL: Tens of thousands of people across the Arab world have demonstrated to demand decent jobs, social justice and an end to repression on May Day, reports the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) at: http://www.ituc-csi.org/may-day-arab-workers-demands-for.html
At trade union rallies across the region, from Iraq in the east to Mauritania in the west, workers from all walks of life added new momentum to the groundswell for democracy and workers' rights following the fall of the dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia.
Some 77 national trade union centres and sectoral trade unions, including affiliates of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), across the region have also signed an "Arab Countries Declaration for Democracy and Social Justice" ( http://www.ituc-csi.org/declaration-of-trade-unions-from.html?lang=en ) adding even further pressure to change to the Arab Spring movement.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow joined Palestinian workers and their families at the Palestinian trade union centre PGFTU's march and rally in Ramallah, to support their demand for a minimum wage, social protection, labour law reform and the setting up of labour courts to tackle exploitation.
ITUC reports that in Cairo's Tahrir Square, a peaceful rally was violently attacked by thugs believed to be from the Mubarak regime's discredited official "trade union" ETUF. Despite being pelted with stones and bottles, the workers from the new independent union EFITU carried on with their rally, with the crowd swelling to some 50,000 marchers.
Elsewhere in the Arab world on May Day, actions took place in Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Iraq.