🗓️ Published on: 11/12/2025

December 10 marks Human Rights Day, at a time when fundamental freedoms are shrinking worldwide and independent unions are facing unprecedented pressure. In Algeria, this reality places an even greater responsibility on our shoulders as independent trade unions — unions that have never been treated as genuine social partners, but rather as a disruptive force that refuses to submit to political loyalty or government and security interference.

After years of struggle, one truth has become unmistakable: before anything else, we are Human Rights Defenders — long before we are “unionists” in the traditional sense.

Our struggle has never been limited to social demands or improving working conditions. In reality, we have never even been allowed to exercise the basic tools of trade unionism — from collective bargaining to genuine social dialogue — nor have we ever benefited from legal protection. All of this simply because we chose to remain independent from the executive authorities and their security apparatus.

December 10 Our Fight Starts with Fundamental Rights

Our experience on the ground has brought us closer to human rights movements than to traditional unions, because the core of our struggle centers on the following principles:

• • The right to independent organizing, free from administrative and security interference.
• ح• Workers’ freedom to choose their representatives without political interference or security intimidation.
• • The right to freedom of expression and to make workers’ voices heard beyond the channels controlled by the authorities.
• • The right to peaceful assembly, as a cornerstone of any vibrant social movement.

These principles are what tie us to Human Rights Defenders across the world—far more than to the government-controlled “yellow” unions that are spreading alarmingly in many countries and have, unfortunately, come to dominate several international union federations. These structures are increasingly turning into tools for managing workers rather than representing them. This is precisely why the independent trade union movement is facing an unprecedented weakening globally, especially in North Africa and the Middle East, under mounting political and economic pressure and the continuous shrinking of civic space.

Building Strategic International Alliances in a Hostile Environment

In this context, the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces(COSYFOP)and its affiliated unions are working to build strong, strategic relationships with human rights organizations—not as a tactical move, but out of a deep conviction that these organizations share our core principles and objectives, foremost among them the protection of human dignity and the rejection of all forms of repression, discrimination, and political control.

As COSYFOP President Raouf Mellal states on this Human Rights Day:

“We have found ourselves facing a double confrontation: on one side, governments that view independent unions as a threat to their monopoly over the social and political arena; and on the other, ‘yellow’ unions that have become extensions of state power instead of genuine voices for workers.”

“This is why our collaboration with human rights organizations has become a core element of our long-term strategy: to safeguard freedom of association and to ensure that workers’ voices are not buried under restrictive legislation or structures aligned with state power.”

Human Rights Are Not a Slogan for Us

In the same spirit, Raouf Mellal adds:

“On Human Rights Day, we reaffirm our unwavering conviction that defending fundamental rights lies at the very heart of independent trade unionism. It is what distinguishes us from traditional unions, and it is the only path toward building a genuine movement capable of protecting workers and strengthening social democracy.”

We are part of a global movement that believes human dignity is a red line, and that freedom of association is not a privilege granted by governments but a fundamental right claimed by organized and rights-conscious communities.

“Special Design for Human Rights Day”