In its statement, the federation expressed explicit solidarity with railway workers and trade unionists in Algeria, drawing attention to the arrest and detention of more than ten union leaders at the National Railway Transport Company (SNTF). Among those targeted is Mohamed Djebrani, Secretary-General of the Railway Workers\u2019 Federation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the statement, these arrests followed a limited and entirely legitimate professional action whose sole purpose was to defend basic workplace demands. That action was met instead with repression, criminalization, and ready-made accusations invoking so-called \u201cstate security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the deeper\u2014and far more dangerous\u2014scandal lies not only in the repression exercised by the authorities against trade unionists affiliated with the UGTA, but in the UGTA\u2019s own total silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This union, which is supposed to serve as the natural framework for defending its activists, has issued no statement, provided no clarification, and has not even taken the minimal step of posting a single message on its Facebook page to inform public opinion that its own union leaders are behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can an organization that claims to represent workers remain silent while the secretary-general of a key federation is imprisoned? And what credibility can a trade union retain when it abandons its own activists at the very moment they face repression?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even more troubling is the fact that this silence appears anything but incidental. It is fully consistent with the line pursued by Omar Takjout, the current Secretary-General of the UGTA, who since assuming office has steadily embraced a policy of praising the authorities and aligning himself with their discourse\u2014despite the fact that those same authorities have hollowed out trade unionism and delivered repeated blows to what little remains of trade union rights and freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a time when trade unionists are being imprisoned, independent organizations are being dissolved, and trade union activity is being criminalized through deeply unfair labor laws, the UGTA\u2019s secretary-general has chosen to stand on the side of power\u2014not as a social intermediary, but as a legitimizing fa\u00e7ade for its failed and repressive policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many have described the era of Abdelmadjid Sidi Sa\u00efd as one defined by accommodation and collusion with the government\u2014a characterization that is largely accurate. Yet the current reality compels a fuller and more uncomfortable truth: Omar Takjout represents a far greater danger than his predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Sidi Sa\u00efd was internally subservient to the Bouteflika regime, he nonetheless invested externally in Algeria\u2019s trade union image. He was\u2014at least formally\u2014mobilized to speak in the name of Africa in international forums, and he openly sought the position of Secretary-General of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). To that end, he rallied dozens of African national trade union centers, triggering a significant political controversy within the world\u2019s largest international trade union organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, under Takjout\u2019s leadership, we are confronted with a model that combines internal submission with external exposure. It is a leadership devoid of international trade union ambition and lacking any willingness to position Africa for leadership within the International Trade Union Confederation<\/a> , as his predecessor once attempted\u2014 despite the billions of dollars channeled by the Algerian state, and in turn by the UGTA itself, into the ITUC. What mirrors the flattery shown to power at home is an equal, if not greater, submission abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The SUD-Rail statement, along with the solidarity of international trade union networks, did not only come to support Algerian trade unionists, but also revealed \u2013 without naming them \u2013 the isolation of the official union and its loss of its basic function. When the outside world takes it upon itself to expose the repression, while the inside remains silent, then the matter is no longer just a crisis, but a historical disgrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is unfolding today in Algeria\u2014the repression of trade unionists\u2014cannot be separated from the troubling silence of both the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Arab Trade Union Confederation. Both organizations were fully informed in advance of the facts of the case and of its political and trade union context. Such silence cannot be construed as neutrality; it amounts to indirect complicity, particularly when serious violations of trade union freedoms are at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most striking contradiction lies in the fact that Algeria\u2019s independent trade unions\u2014many of which are themselves affiliated with the ITUC\u2014have for years been subjected to systematic marginalization and a complete absence of meaningful solidarity. Despite facing arbitrary dissolution, the criminalization of trade union activity, and the arrest of their leaders on terrorism-related charges, the ITUC has remained silent. Worse still, its Secretary-General paid an official visit<\/a> to Algeria last February, during which he publicly praised the government and what he described as \u201csocial dialogue.\u201d These statements were later exploited by the authorities to justify internal repression and to lend false legitimacy to their policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even more perplexing is the fact that trade unionists from the General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) themselves\u2014whose organization leads the ITUC\u2019s regional structure, the Arab Trade Union Confederation\u2014have received virtually no solidarity from that body, despite the arrest of prominent union leaders among them. This raises serious questions about the role, purpose, and credibility of the Arab Trade Union Confederation, particularly given the substantial financial resources it receives from multiple donors\u2014resources that have failed to translate into real protection or support for trade unionists in times of crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This reality confirms that the Arab trade union movement is facing a profound crisis\u2014a structural crisis that goes beyond individuals and implicates the systems themselves. It calls for serious reflection on the need to build an alternative trade union force: independent, democratic, and principled. Even if launched with limited resources, such a force must be aligned with the aspirations of workers across the region and capable of taking clear, firm positions whenever trade union activity is repressed\u2014particularly before the International Labour Organization, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other international institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In this context, the President of the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP) stated, in a declaration to the Confederation\u2019s official website, that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe imprisonment of trade unionists is a political crime and a flagrant violation of Algeria\u2019s international obligations. The silence of the General Union of Algerian Workers is a betrayal of its historical role and of its own activists. Today, rebuilding a free and independent trade union movement is no longer an option\u2014it is an existential necessity for any genuine trade union activity in Algeria.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n He further stated:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile we fully commend the French trade unions for their principled stand, what prevails domestically is not leadership or responsibility, but a disgraceful silence and exposed submission.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n What is unfolding today within the General Union of Algerian Workers is not merely a leadership crisis; it is the collapse of a historic trade union function. When trade unionists are imprisoned and trade union activity is criminalized, silence becomes a fully-fledged political stance\u2014one that cannot be justified by appeals to prudence or short-term calculations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solidarity expressed from abroad does not absolve those at home of their responsibility; it exposes it. History is unforgiving toward organizations that abandon their activists at moments of repression. Only a free, independent, and democratic trade union movement can restore the true meaning of trade unionism and put an end to a trajectory that has turned silence into policy and submission into an official line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cosyfop.ovh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.png\")
The true scandal is not repression alone, but the UGTA\u2019s silence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Omar Takjout has become the symbol of total submission and full alignment with those in power<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cosyfop.ovh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_2023-07-23_061048831.png\")
Takjout vs. Sidi Sa\u00efd: Why the Current UGTA Leadership Marks a New Low<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cosyfop.ovh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sidi-said-1024x576.webp\")
When Solidarity Comes from Abroad, Silence Is Exposed at Home<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The silence of the Arab Trade Union Confederation and the International Trade Union Confederation is complicity in the crime<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cosyfop.ovh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Artboard-1-1-1024x640.png\")
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The Position of<\/strong>the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Silence Is Not Neutrality \u2014 It Is Complicity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n