Abdelkarim Jrad, the assistant secretary-general of the Tunisian General Labor Union, confirmed in a statement to the JDD Tunisie website on Thursday, July 8, that he boycotted the work of the extraordinary non-electoral conference of the labor organization, whose activities started today and end tomorrow.
The Assistant Secretary-General responsible for social coverage and occupational health and safety refused to mention the reasons for his boycott of the work of the conference, saying, “This is an internal matter that concerns the structures of the Tunisian General Labor Union and is discussed within the organization.
Jrad was not the only official boycotting the conference, as he was interrupted in turn by Muhammad Muslimi, the Assistant Secretary-General responsible for union formation and labor education.
The Labor Union’s announcement of the organization of its conference sparked controversy among unionists, and opinions varied between supporters and opponents, as the refusal to boycott the part, saying that the goal of the conference is to overthrow legitimacy and to revise Chapter 20 of the Union’s Basic Law, which allows members of the Executive Office to extend for more than two mandates.
The Secretary General of the General University of Secondary Education, lassaad Yaacoubi, described the conference as “a coup against the democratic approach of the union, saying that it is a dangerous precedent” and announced the university’s boycott of its activities, considering it “illegal and illegitimate.”
A large number of unionists also opposed the convening of this conference because it comes at a time when the country is going through a critical health situation with the high number of injuries and deaths due to the Corona pandemic.
