UN labour chief deplores call for Bahraini union leaders to resign or face legal action
\nILO Director-General Juan Somavia
\n20 June 2011 \u2013<\/p>\n
The head of the United Nations labour agency today condemned a call by prominent business figures in Bahrain for trade union leaders in the Middle East nation to either resign or face legal action, describing the threat as an act of intimidation.<\/p>\n
Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO, issued a statement in response to what he called \u201cthis confrontational ultimatum\u201d by the Joint Committee of Major Companies in Bahrain \u2013 which are entirely or partly owned by the Government.<\/p>\n
The small country has been beset by unrest in recent months as protesters have taken to the streets to demand greater democracy, part of a broader movement across North Africa and the Middle East since the start of the year.<\/p>\n
As many as 2,000 workers at Government-owned enterprises have been dismissed from their jobs.<\/p>\n
Mr. Somavia urged the Government to seek the immediate withdrawal of the business figures\u2019 call for the 15 members of the Executive Committee of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions to resign or face prosecution or civil law action.<\/p>\n
Authorities should \u201cdo everything to bring all parties to the table of social dialogue,\u201d he said, citing \u201cthe very positive announcement\u201d last month by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa for a national dialogue to start on 1 July.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe threat of criminal and civil prosecution\u2026 is an act of intimidation which takes Bahrain still further away from the course of respect for trade union rights on which it had embarked since 2002 and which has been widely recognized and praised by the ILO in the past,\u201d Mr. Somavia noted. …more<\/a><\/p>\n