{"id":3420,"date":"2026-06-08T00:32:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cosyfop.ovh\/?p=3420"},"modified":"2026-06-08T00:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:33:13","slug":"%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a-%d9%84%d9%84%d9%86%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%aa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cosyfop.ovh\/en\/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a-%d9%84%d9%84%d9%86%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%aa\/","title":{"rendered":"The ITUC 2026 Report and Algeria: An Important Recognition, Yet Many Violations Remain in the Shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has released its 2026 Global Rights Index, one of the world\u2019s most important annual reports on workers\u2019 rights, trade union freedoms, and the extent to which labour rights are respected across countries.\nWith regard to Algeria, the report contains an important reference to the case of imprisoned trade union leader Ali Mammeri<\/a>, who has been imprisoned on terrorism-related charges and is presented as an example of the violations suffered by trade unionists because of their union activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the report does not explicitly address the use of counter-terrorism legislation against trade unionists and human rights defenders, its reference to Ali Mammeri nevertheless marks a significant step forward compared with the report issued by the Arab Trade Union Confederation<\/a> , which is affiliated with the same international trade union movement and yet completely ignored the reality of trade union repression in Algeria.\nThe inclusion of Ali Mammeri\u2019s case confirms that it has now become part of the international record of violations against trade unionists. He is not mentioned as an isolated judicial case, but as a symbol of a broader pattern of restrictions, criminalisation, and repression targeting independent trade union activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ali Mammeri: When Independent Information Becomes an International Reference<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The inclusion of Ali Mammeri\u2019s case in the ITUC report highlights, above all, the crucial role played by independent trade unions and human rights organisations in documenting violations in Algeria and bringing them to the attention of international bodies.\n\nThis case did not reach such a level of international recognition through official channels. It was the result of sustained efforts by the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP), which worked to collect information, document facts, and engage with the relevant international mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This reveals a fundamental paradox in the Algerian trade union landscape. Despite the administrative, political, and media blockade imposed on them, independent trade unions have become, in many cases, the most serious and reliable source of information on trade union rights violations.\n\nThe reference to Ali Mammeri in the ITUC report shows that when such information is properly documented, structured, and submitted through the appropriate channels, it can reach the international level and find its place in authoritative global reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the importance of this recognition should not obscure the broader picture. Ali Mammeri\u2019s case is only one part of a far more complex reality, marked by arrests, judicial harassment, threats to dissolve trade unions, and restrictions on the rights to strike, organise, and defend workers collectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Major Omission: Imprisoned Railway Union Leaders and the Right to Strike<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Despite the importance of what the report acknowledges, the absence of any reference to trade union leaders from the General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) in the railway sector remains striking.\n\nSeveral of these trade unionists have been imprisoned for exercising their right<\/a> to strike, with some receiving prison sentences of up to five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By its very nature, this case should fall at the heart of the ITUC\u2019s priorities. According to the Confederation\u2019s own publications and statements, the right to strike is one of the fundamental pillars of trade union struggle and one of the major issues on which the ITUC has fought important battles within the International Labour Organization and, more recently, in proceedings linked to the International Court of Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes this omission even more surprising is that the victims in this case do not belong to an independent union outside the ITUC\u2019s structures, as is the case with Ali Mammeri. They belong to the UGTA, the state-aligned Algerian trade union organisation whose leadership holds a Vice-President position within the ITUC.\n\nThis gives the case an even greater significance. It shows that restrictions on trade union rights in Algeria no longer target only independent unions. They now also affect trade unionists operating within the country\u2019s official trade union organisation itself when they seek to exercise the right to strike or defend workers\u2019 interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Silence of the UGTA and the Question of Representation Monopoly<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The absence of the railway workers\u2019 case from the ITUC report may not necessarily reflect a deliberate decision to ignore it. It may instead point to a deeper problem related to the flow of information.\n\nInternational trade union organisations often rely on information received from their affiliated members or from official trade union channels. If the national leadership of the UGTA did not report this case, or chose not to give it an international dimension, it is unsurprising that it remained outside the spotlight. This is precisely where the real problem lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of railway workers and trade unionists formally approached the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP), asking it to defend them and their imprisoned colleagues, and to bring their case to international attention, as happened in the case of Ali Mammeri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, from an organisational standpoint, COSYFOP cannot formally take up the case before international institutions as if the persons concerned were members of its own structures. They were, and remain, trade unionists operating under the umbrella of the UGTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, these workers find themselves in a deeply difficult position. They belong to a trade union that is supposed to defend them, yet they complain of its silence or refusal to take up their case. At the same time, independent trade unions cannot fully act on their behalf because they do not have the direct organisational mandate to represent them internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This situation raises a fundamental question for the ITUC itself: how long can international trade union bodies continue to rely almost exclusively on official trade union organisations while marginalising independent unions, especially when those independent unions have repeatedly shown that they are better able to document violations, including violations affecting workers and trade unionists from within the UGTA itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algerian State Media Selectively Chooses Its Narrative: Morocco in the Spotlight, Algeria Ignored<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another striking aspect is the way Algerian state television covered the ITUC report. Its coverage focused almost exclusively on the report\u2019s references to trade union rights violations in Morocco, while ignoring what the same report said about Algeria, particularly the case of Ali Mammeri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This selective approach serves neither truth nor the public interest. It is not credible to treat an international report as an authoritative source when it criticises another country, while ignoring its findings when they concern violations taking place inside Algeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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