MIDDLE EAST

New Arab Regional Initiative of Trade Unions

Five NGOs from five Arab countries have established a new regional organization called the Arab Federation for Democracy and Workers Education Associations (AFDWEA). The newly created organization is to promote independent trade unions in the Middle East and lobby for more democracy within trade unions themselves. According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), independent trade unions are rare in the Middle East. In the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, they are banned, while in Syria permits only a single, state-sanctioned union. Throughout the region, union activity is strictly controlled by the state or ruling party. Of the ICFTU's own 233 global affiliates, only 19 are in the Middle East (Israel, Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan and Cyprus). The AFDWEA programme of activities is to educate and train workers in collective bargaining skills, as well as lobbying for the right to organize independent unions.

 

T.H.