🗓️ Published on: 10/05/2026
In an interview with Radio des sans voix, Raouf Mellal, President of the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP), addressed three issues which, in his view, represent some of the most serious challenges facing trade union activity in Algeria today: the myth of trade union pluralism in Algeria and its impact on independent union work; the international steps taken by COSYFOP regarding Article 87 bis of the Penal Code and its effects on trade union freedoms; and the complex relationship between Algerian independent unions and the International Trade Union Confederation.
Trade Union Pluralism in Algeria: A Formal Pluralism Used to Fragment Workers and Weaken Independent Unions
Raouf Mellal stated that the official discourse on“trade union pluralism”in Algeria does not reflect the reality on the ground. Genuine pluralism, he stressed, is not measured by the number of unions that exist on paper — a figure the authorities estimate at more than 130 registered organisations — but by the ability of workers to build strong, independent organisations capable of operating freely across all sectors.
He explained that the Algerian authorities allow limited trade union pluralism in certain non-strategic sectors, such as education and health, while in practice closing the door to any genuine pluralism in sensitive and strategic sectors such as postal services, hydrocarbons, and social security. According to Mellal, this shows that the existing pluralism is not based on freedom of association, but is instead a selective form of pluralism governed by precise political and security calculations.
He also pointed out that Algeria does not, in practice, have real pluralism among national trade union centres. The General Union of Algerian Workers continues to dominate the national trade union space, while the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces, despite being a legally recognised national trade union centre, continues to face obstruction of its activities and ongoing pressure against its activists and members. This, he argued, exposes the limits of the official discourse on respect for pluralism.
For Mellal, one of the most dangerous developments in recent years has been the transformation of trade union pluralism into a tool for fragmenting workers and weakening independent unions, rather than strengthening them. He referred in this regard to what happened in the education sector, where the CNAPEST union, between 2003 and 2007, was able to secure important social and professional gains for workers thanks to its organisational strength and the unity of its membership. That strength was later gradually weakened after the authorities allowed the emergence of dozens of competing unions within the same sector.
According to the President of COSYFOP, facilitating the registration and recognition of more than thirty unions in the education sector was not a natural development reflecting the vitality of trade union activity. Rather, in many cases, it took place within a context shaped by political and security considerations aimed at creating fragmentation and internal competition, thereby weakening the ability of independent unions to negotiate, exert pressure, and achieve gains for workers.
He added that, after the experience led by CNAPEST in the early 2000s, the authorities understood that the real threat did not lie merely in the existence of an independent union, but in the existence of a strong, united and independent union capable of creating a balance of power within its sector. This is why “pluralism” was turned into a means of producing dozens of small and competing organisations that weaken one another and deprive workers of the ability to build genuine collective trade union strength.
Article 87 bis: From Anti-Terrorism Legislation to a Tool Threatening Trade Union and Human Rights Work
Speaking about Article 87 bis of the Penal Code, Raouf Mellal stated that the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces considers this provision to be one of the most serious threats to trade union and human rights freedoms in Algeria, due to its vague wording and the possibility of using it against peaceful and legitimate activities.
He explained that, in recent years, COSYFOP has submitted several complaints and communications to the International Labour Organization concerning this article, based on concerns that anti-terrorism legislation could be used against trade union work and human rights activism. He added that these efforts, after years of follow-up and pressure, contributed to prompting the ILO Committee of Experts to issue a direct request to the Algerian government concerning Article 87 bis.
Mellal considers this development to be of major political and legal significance. The Committee of Experts, he explained, does not request clarification on a specific legal provision unless there are serious indications of a problem regarding its application or its potential impact on the rights and freedoms protected under international labour conventions.
He noted that, for COSYFOP, the real danger does not lie only in the legal text itself, but also in the way it is used within a political and security environment increasingly marked by the securitisation of civic and trade union activity. According to COSYFOP’s monitoring, Article 87 bis has been applied in recent years against several human rights defenders, trade unionists, and advocates of public freedoms, leading some of them to be imprisoned for long periods under the cover of counter-terrorism.
Mellal stressed that this development is extremely dangerous because it shifts trade union work from the sphere of “social dispute” into the sphere of security suspicion. It also creates a permanent climate of fear within independent unions and civil society. When a trade unionist or human rights defender can be prosecuted under terrorism-related legislation because of peaceful activity, the issue is not only a legal violation; it reflects a political transformation affecting the very nature of the relationship between the state and society.
He added that COSYFOP does not view this file as a merely technical or legal matter. Rather, it sees it as a central battle to defend civic and trade union space in Algeria, because the expanded use of security legislation against peaceful activity threatens the future of public freedoms as a whole, not only trade union work.
Independent Unions and the International Trade Union Confederation: From Political Support to a Phase of Ambiguity and Retreat
Regarding the relationship with the International Trade Union Confederation, the President of COSYFOP described it as complex and changing. He explained that, before 2019, the ITUC was more supportive of Algerian independent unions, but that this position changed significantly after the removal of Abdelmadjid Sidi Saïd, the former Secretary General of the General Union of Algerian Workers.
Mellal believes that part of the support enjoyed by Algerian independent unions during that period was not based solely on a principled commitment to defending trade union freedom. It was also influenced by internal conflicts and balances of power within the international trade union movement itself. He noted that Sidi Saïd was, at the time, in conflict with certain centres of influence within the ITUC, particularly in light of what Mellal described as his ambition to promote a trade union figure from the African continent to the leadership of that international body.
He added that many Algerian independent unions did not fully understand the nature of these balances. They believed that the international support they were receiving was entirely grounded in the principles of trade union freedom and international labour solidarity. However, the developments that followed the fall of Sidi Saïd, and later his imprisonment, revealed — according to Mellal — that the matter was far more complex, and that part of the international positioning was also linked to the reconfiguration of power relations within the international trade union movement.
The President of COSYFOP stated that the current situation of Algerian independent unions within the ITUC confirms this shift. The General Autonomous Workers’ Union in Algeria, the only independent Algerian union affiliated with the ITUC, has become almost frozen, while the level of political support and international attention given to the Algerian trade union file has declined compared with the period before 2019.
Mellal concluded by stressing that this experience has shown Algerian independent unions the need to build their own political and organisational independence, and not to tie their fate entirely to external support or international balances of power. The genuine defence of trade union freedoms, he argued, begins first and foremost with the ability of unions themselves to build independent organisational strength, document violations, and present them directly before both national and international public opinion.
L’Algérie bientôt examinée par l’ONU sur les droits syndicaux
Source : Radio des sans voix · Publié le 29 avril 2026
Analyse
Le président du COSYFOP décrit sa relation avec la Confédération syndicale internationale (CSI) comme complexe et fluctuante. Avant 2019, la CSI soutenait davantage les syndicats indépendants algériens. Ce soutien s’est nettement affaibli après l’éviction d’Abdelmadjid Sidi Saïd, ex-secrétaire général de l’UGTA.
Selon Mellal, une partie de ce soutien international n’était pas uniquement fondée sur des convictions de principe en faveur de la liberté syndicale : elle était aussi influencée par les luttes d’influence internes à la CSI, notamment les ambitions de Sidi Saïd de porter un dirigeant africain à la tête de l’organisation internationale.
Beaucoup de syndicats indépendants algériens croyaient alors que le soutien reçu reposait entièrement sur des principes de solidarité syndicale. La chute puis l’emprisonnement de Sidi Saïd a révélé que le dossier était bien plus complexe, et que certaines positions internationales étaient liées à des reconfigurations de pouvoir au sein du mouvement syndical mondial.
Aujourd’hui, le seul syndicat indépendant algérien affilié à la CSI est pratiquement gelé, et l’intérêt international pour le dossier syndical algérien a fortement reculé par rapport à la période pré-2019.
Conclusion
Cette expérience démontre aux syndicats indépendants algériens la nécessité de construire leur autonomie politique et organisationnelle, sans s’en remettre entièrement au soutien extérieur ou aux équilibres internationaux. La véritable défense des libertés syndicales commence par la capacité des syndicats à se doter d’une force organisationnelle propre, à documenter les violations et à les porter directement devant l’opinion publique nationale et internationale.
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